Harold Engle (MBA, RN Director Neuro & Cardiac), presented a very informative program about strokes and stroke care.
Stroke is a major cause of death and disab...ility, and patient outcomes depend on how quickly the blood flow can be restored to the damaged area of the brain. Treatment options for stroke include thrombolytic medications that aim to dissolve the clot, and interventional endovascular procedures (similar to a cardiac catheterization) to remove it. Successful stroke care requires early recognition, transporting the patient to a designated comprehensive stroke center, and early activation of a stroke team at the hospital.
The Emergent Large Vessel Occlusion (ELVO) was recently introduced as a type of stroke where a major cerebral artery is blocked. ELVO strokes have the highest rate of mortality and poor outcomes. Thrombolytics alone usually do not work for large vessel occlusions, and recent studies have shown that combined thrombolytics and endovascular procedure are the most effective treatment.
There are two tiers of stroke centers that offer different treatment options. Primary stroke centers are equipped to administer thrombolytics, and comprehensive stroke centers offer the additional endovascular procedures. Stroke scales are now being used to identify strokes and assess their severity, and to direct patients with suspected ELVOs to comprehensive centers. Kingwood Medical Center is the only comprehensive stroke center in the Lake Houston area, and received the 2016 Stroke Excellence Award from the Southeast Texas Regional Advisory Council.
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