Kings County Hospital uses latest technology to treat, prevent strokes

<p>Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, but doctors at Kings County Hospital are using the latest technology to treat them. Patient Kelvin Bryant says walking would have been impossible just two weeks ago.</p>

News 12 Staff

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May 22, 2017, 9:55 PM

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Updated 2,742 days ago

Strokes are the fifth-leading cause of death in the United States, but doctors at Kings County Hospital are using the latest technology to treat them.

Patient Kelvin Bryant says walking would have been impossible just two weeks ago. Doctors asked him to bend his leg and arm and he was unable to, which doctors say are warning signs of a stroke.

The doctors performed a mechanical thrombectomy on Bryant, which is one of the latest methods for treating strokes and a first for Kings County Hospital.

"Had Mr. Bryant not had this procedure, it would have been likely that we would have sustained a permanent neurologic deficit not being able to move his left side and perhaps not being able to speak very clearly," says Dr. Donnie Bell.

Doctors say strokes happen when a clot prevents the brain from getting enough oxygen. The mechanical thrombectomy basically sucks out the clot using tubes inserted into a blood vessel in the patient's leg.

"Mechanical thrombectomy is able to achieve re-canalization or to restore blood flow to the brain in 80 to 90 percent of cases," says Dr. Bell.

Kings County Hospital has an eight-bed stroke unit and cares for 500 patients with acute strokes every year.

Doctors say they are hoping to keep those numbers down by teaching patients how to prevent strokes. Ways to prevent strokes include a healthy diet, exercise, blood pressure control, glucose control and cholesterol control.

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