Stroke Program & Outcomes
The SSM Health Neurosciences Institute stroke center at SSM Health DePaul Hospital provides the most advanced treatments for stroke. When every second counts, our experienced team of neurologists, neuro-interventionists- neurosurgeons, stroke nurse practitioners, stroke coordinators, ER physicians, radiologists, dedicated nurses and clinicians work together to deliver life-saving treatment.
Initial Treatment
Initial treatment for a stroke varies depending on whether it’s caused by a blood clot (ischemic) or by a ruptured blood vessel in the brain (hemorrhagic). Since each type of stroke has a different type of treatment, it is very important for the physician to determine the cause of the stroke, as well as the location, as quickly as possible.
Before starting treatment, your doctor will use a computed tomography (CT) scan of your head and possibly magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to diagnose the type of stroke you’ve had to assess the amount of brain damage. Initial treatment focuses on restoring blood flow for an ischemic stroke or controlling bleeding for a hemorrhagic stroke.
Treatment may include clot busting medication or other interventions. The American Stroke Association has issued guidelines saying that patients can benefit from the clot-busting drug, tPA (tissue plasminogen activator), or thrombolytic drugs up to 4.5 hours after stroke symptoms begin. The guidelines apply to most patients with ischemic stroke (more than 750,000 Americans suffer from strokes each year, and 88% are ischemic strokes).
SSM Health DePaul Hospital offers neuro-interventional treatments for stroke, including biplane angiography suites that offer patients a larger window of time for life-saving treatment - up to 12 hours.
Aneurysm Treatment
A brain aneurysm, also called a cerebral aneurysm is a weak bulging spot on the wall of the brain artery - very much like a thin balloon or weak spot on an inner tube. Over time, the blood within the artery pounds against the thinned portion of the wall and aneurysms form silently from wear and tear on the arteries. As the artery wall becomes gradually thinner from the dilation, the blood flow causes the weakened wall to swell outward. This pressure may cause the aneurysm to rupture and allow blood to escape into the space around the brain. If found before it ruptures, the aneurysm may be treated electively through a process called coiling that is performed through a catheter-based procedure.
When a brain aneurysm ruptures, it causes bleeding into the compartment surrounding the brain, the subarachnoid space and is therefore also known as a subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH). Sometimes the aneurysm heals over, bleeding stops, and the person survives. In more serious cases, the bleeding may cause brain damage with paralysis or coma. In the most severe cases, the bleeding leads to death. Emergent coiling or brain surgery can be performed to treat a ruptured aneurysm.