Docs save 18-year-old girl from stroke-induced paralysis in 15 min

CHENNAI: Timely medical intervention saved an 18-year-old girl in the city recently, after she became temporarily paralysed due to a stroke.

A private hospital found a blood clot in her brain, after she experienced a sudden onset of paralysis in her left arm and leg.

The patient was at her institute attending a class when she suddenly felt dizzy, and had a massive headache. Within seconds, her mouth drooped down to the right, and she could not move her left limbs. She was rushed to SRM Global Hospitals immediately.

She instantly responded to the treatment known as thrombolysis, in which blood clots are broken and new clots are prevented. She regained complete mobility in the affected limbs, within 15 minutes of the treatment. The student is now able to walk and perform all movements with her arm as she did before.

The medical team, led by Dr Ilankumaran, senior consultant of neurosurgery, said, “Though she has recovered now, she needs to undergo a series of tests to evaluate the underlying causes of the stroke, since it’s rare among teenagers. It was a stroke caused by a clot in the mid-cerebral artery. Fortunately, thrombolysis dissolved the clot and the patient regained her mobility completely.”

He highlighted that the recovery was possible mainly because thrombolysis was initiated within 37 minutes of the acute event. “The challenge was in figuring out whether the stroke was due to a blood clot or leakage – depending on which we had to decide the course of treatment. First, we took a CT scan that showed the affected spot in the brain but we also had to follow it up with an MRI, which revealed a clot.”