Acute stroke, life-saving operation at the “Mazzini” in Teramo – ekuonews.it

TERAMO – From doctor to patient, from man who saves lives to man whose life is saved. This is what happened to a 67-year-old man, a retired doctor who a few days ago arrived at the emergency room of the “Mazzini” hospital in Teramo with an acute cerebral stroke.

Immediately subjected to the necessary radiological investigations, a hyperacute thrombosis of the right internal carotid artery extending to the siphon and intracranial circulation was found at Angiotac. In simpler words, a probable brain stroke. Usually acute complete occlusion of the carotid artery can lead to serious physical deficits with loss of consciousness, hemiplegia in all four limbs, loss of autonomy and a more or less complete lifelong need for rehabilitation and neurocognitive supports. In the most serious cases, acute occlusion of the internal carotid artery can also cause ischemia of the autonomic centers with sudden cardiocirculatory arrest which in a short time can even lead to the patient’s death.

Thanks to the high efficiency of the stroke path consolidated by over 20 years of experience in the sector and the professionalism of all the professionals, doctors and paramedics in the Emergency Room, Radiology and Resuscitation, the patient was immediately taken to the angiography room where the specialists from the interventional radiology unit quickly conducted the necessary maneuvers to unblock the internal carotid artery with a thrombus aspiration system and recovery of the thrombus, performing only a femoral arterial access. Specific dedicated catheters were used to study the vessels in the neck and the intracranial (cerebral) circulation. Carotid arteriography confirmed the closure of the vessel (Figure 1) extending to the entire cerebral circulation. After aspiration of the clot, complete recanalization of the carotid artery occurred (Figure 2). To ensure vessel patency, a stent was also deployed (Figure 3). For the cerebral circulation, a mechanical removal of the clot was also carried out with complete reopening of the vessels (Figure 4). The post-operative and 24-hour control CT scans immediately demonstrated a favorable evolution of the picture at brain level, also confirmed clinically (Figure 5). In the following week the patient was discharged from the Neurology and Stroke unit, without significant clinical results.

“The patient, who was also one of our doctors, returned to his family in more than good conditions. His story is emblematic of the value of good public healthcare and the importance of the people who work there, dedicating their existence with a spirit of sacrifice and self-sacrifice to the care of others. This story has even more value because he himself, who worked every day to save lives, benefited from the high professionalism of his colleagues and the good organization of our healthcare system”declares general director Maurizio Of Josiah.