Most recent advancement in medical technology works with the anticipation of stroke

According to the Indian Stroke Association, the incidence of stroke in India has increased by almost 100 percent in the past few decades. Around 1.8 million people in India suffer from a stroke every year and it is only early treatment that can reduce morbidity and mortality. The burden of stroke is expanding in India; the stroke is presently the fourth driving reason for death and the fifth driving reason for disability. A stroke is a medical condition. In this, the brain does not receive enough oxygen or nutrients, and brain cells start to die. A stroke can be disastrous to people and their families, denying them their freedom. It is the most common reason for disability in adults.

Hailey Bieber, model, and wife of singer Justin Bieber also encountered a stroke and was admitted to the hospital on March 10, 2022. She was having breakfast with her husband when she felt a weird sensation that kind of like travelled from her shoulder to her fingertips which felt numb and weird, she couldn’t speak, and the right side of her face started drooping which lasted about 30 seconds – These were the symptoms Hailey experienced.

Once at the hospital, doctors did some scans of her and determined that she suffered a small blood clot in her brain, which doctors labeled and categorized as a TIA. A Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) is often called a mini-stroke and a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. The doctors then told her three factors likely caused the blood clot itself. One was that she just recently started birth control pills, which she should have never been on because she is somebody who suffered from migraines. And she did not talk to her doctor about this. The second factor was that she had recently recovered from COVID-19, and the third was that she had recently gone on a long flight from Paris and back home in a very short amount of time. But doctors still didn’t know why it travelled to her brain.

After undergoing a transcranial doppler, an ultrasound that uses sound waves to detect the blood flow to the brain, she was diagnosed with a grade 5 PFO (Patent Foramen Ovale), which is the highest grade that anyone can have. The conclusion was that she had a blood clot that travelled into her heart and instead of what typically happens if anyone has a small blood clot is that the heart will filter the blood clot to the lungs and the lungs will absorb it. But what happened with her is that her blood clot escaped through the flap or the hole in her heart, and it travelled to her brain and that is why she suffered a TIA. To treat the PFO, she underwent a PFO closure procedure, which is when they go through the femoral vein in the groin to close the hole. Over time, the heart tissue will grow back over the closure device.

PFO closure therapy is used to reduce strokes in patients. It can also reduce the risk of bleeding associated with the use of blood thinners that have been used conventionally. Most people can take a blood thinner for years without any risk but as blood thinners help to prevent, even tiny cuts or bruises will bleed a lot more if a patient consumes these drugs/medication on a daily basis. Also, there is a need for getting frequent blood tests done to make sure the patient takes the right amount of medication. Today we have different kinds of occluders that can be placed in the heart to close the PFO opening from a minimally invasive catheter procedure. The procedure involves making a small incision in the leg and inserting a small catheter to guide the occluder through the blood vessels to the heart. This device closes the opening in the heart, and it is inserted into the opening of the PFO. This seals off the PFO and keeps it from releasing clots. Once the device is placed across the heart defect, using cardiac imaging tools, the implanting cardiologist carefully studies its positioning. The device is released to remain permanently in the heart and all the catheters are removed to complete the procedure when the cardiologist is satisfied with the positioning of the occluder. Heart tissue grows over the implant, with time, making the device a part of the heart. After the procedure, the patients can return to normal activities.

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