'telestroke' posts

Who likes thinking about stroke? It’s scary! But when we talk about it, we learn how to prevent and treat it. With quick and careful treatment—from diet and exercise to medications and guided rehabilitation—life can go on happily and healthily after stroke. But first of all, we need to start the conversation. So let’s chat.

You: What is a stroke?

Me: A stroke occurs when a clot of blood gets stuck in your brain or a blood vessel in your brain bursts. Many factors can increase your risk for stroke. Do you have high blood pressure, high cholesterol or diabetes? Do you smoke or are you overweight? Take this free risk assessment to see if you might be at risk for stroke.

You: How do I know if it’s a stroke?

Me: If you or a loved one has a stroke, check for signs and call 911 as soon as possible. When a stroke occurs, blood cannot get to parts of the brain that control speech and movement. When you notice these signs, the key is to think and act “FAST:”

F – Face: If...

SEATTLE, Feb. 7, 2012 – Since diagnosing and managing cerebrovascular disorders can require a complex assortment of specialty evaluations and testing, Swedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) recently opened a new Cerebrovascular Center on the first floor of James Tower at the Cherry Hill campus (550 17th Ave., Suite 110, Seattle).

SNI used patient-focused convenience as the foundation for designing the new facility, which opened Dec. 19, 2011.

“In this one location, SNI has consolidated its existing advanced diagnostics and interventional therapeutics, as well as the newest generation of technology,” said David Newell, M.D., cerebrovascular neurosurgeon and chief of Neuroscience. “The center also features the expertise of a care team that includes cerebrovascular neurosurgeons, vascular neurologists, neuroendovascular and radiosurgical specialists, neuroradiologists, neurohospitalists, and advanced practitioners who are trained to evaluate and treat cerebrovascular disorders.”

The facility also includes a Stroke Clinic.

A comprehensive menu of procedures

In addition to advanced diagnostics, the center offers ...

WALLA WALLA, WA, Feb. 7, 2012 – Walla Walla area residents facing a potential or actual acute stroke will benefit from a recently formed partnership between the Swedish Neuroscience Institute (SNI) Acute TeleStroke Program and Walla Walla General Hospital (WWGH) that will bolster WWGH’s stroke support services through 24/7, around-the-clock access to SNI’s nationally recognized stroke team experts via real-time, telemedicine-based technology.

This TeleStroke partnership provides an as-needed link between the Emergency Center team at WWGH and the comprehensive team of stroke specialists based at the Swedish/Cherry Hill campus campus in Seattle. With the help of a secure, video-conferencing network, members of SNI’s Stroke Program are able to quickly perform ‘virtual’ bedside neurological evaluations that allow them to examine patients, review brain images and quickly select the best acute stroke treatments in collaboration with WWGH Emergency Center physicians.

WWGH sees more than 125 patients a year who are experiencing signs and symptoms of TIA or Stroke. Many of those patients may qualify for the TeleStroke program. “We have the equipment and team, now we have the expertise of the physicians and staff at Swedish to help better serve our patients,” said Jackie Fullerton, vice president for patient- care services at WWGH. “The difference this can make for our patients and their families is huge.”

In fact, the first week that the program went live ...

Hopefully, you won't have a stroke. But if you do, do you know what to do? Why is it important that you get to an emergency room quickly? Knowing the signs and symptoms of stroke could help save your life or the life of a loved one. How do you lessen your risk of having another stroke? Is your family at increased risk? Dr. William Likosky, director of Swedish Stroke and Telestroke programs, explains.

(Click here to see the entire playlist and other questions answered about stroke, including why follow up care is so important.)

 Washington State has one of the high est stroke mortality rates in the nation. To improve this situation, acute intervention al therapies for stroke are being employed to restore circulation to ischemic brain tissue that surrounds areas of completed infraction, while avoiding risk of hemor rhage due to reperfusion of large areas of infracted brain tissue.

Urgent thrombolysis with intrave nous alteplase is the only therapy known to improve clinical outcomes following acute stroke. Unfortunately, alteplase has had limited usage because many patients arrive in an emergency department after the three-hour treatment window. The FDA has also approved two clot removal devices based on the ability to restore circulation. These devices are used up to eight hours after symptom onset. Several approaches to improved acute stroke care are now under way, including extension of the thrombolysis window to 4.5 hours, identification of safer thrombolytic agents and research identifying brain at risk of in farction following a stroke.

A recent European study demonstrat ed the efficacy of alteplase up to 4.5 hours after ischemic stroke in patients younger than age 80 years who have neither dia betes mellitus or prior stroke. The safety profile during this longer window for these patients appears similar to that at three hours.

Another promising advance employs a new thrombolytic agent called des moteplase.