Breakthrough Treatment For Brain Haemorrhage

Diagnosis is through MRI amp CT scans but treatment is through Cathlab
Pinhole surgery is an alternative to traditional brain surgery in which the skull has to be opened The advantages are that only a short hospital stay is required for most procedures Blood loss infection pain and recovery time are reduced compared to conventional surgery
Every 45 seconds another Indian has a stroke caused either by a blocked or burst blood vessel in the brain Every three minutes one of them will die Today doctors can do more to find and fix the problems that cause many strokes They can do it without even having to open up the skull
New technologies delivered to the brain via the bloodstream through small tubes called catheters and guided by more powerful brain scans are making it easier to close leaking blood vessels in the brain
It is pinhole brain surgery also called minimally invasive or endovascular neurointerventions
Prodcedure
Endovascular neurointerventions interventional neurology is a new neurospeciality which treats patients with disorders of the blood vessels of the brain like stroke or haemorrhage using minimally invasive techniques This is an alternative to traditional brain surgery in which the skull has to be opened
These procedures are done in sophisticated cath labs with facilities to see the blood vessels going through the body
Small catheters wires and guide wires are guided through blood vessels to the brain These small catheters tubes are only a few millimeters in diameter
This is called pinhole surgery because of the small hole that are made in the skin to perform these procedures
The advantages are that only a short hospital stay is required for most procedures Blood loss infection pain and recovery time are reduced compared to conventional surgery
Blood vessels of the brain can be accessed with small tubes through which various devices which can be put in the blood vessel and navigating the devices like balloon stents and coils through the arteries into the brain This is done in a sophisticated digital cathlab with facility of 3D angiography and substraction angiography The pinholesized opening is made in the blood vessel in the thigh
Aneurysm In The Brain
Aneurysm is a small bulge occurring in a weak point in the blood vessels of the brain When they rupture it causes bleeding in the brain which can be deadly Many a times these aneurysms produce some warning signs
These include sudden severe headache the worst headache in a lifetime headache with vomiting loss of consciousness headache with face deviation weakness of limbs or unsteadiness
Aneurysms need to be treated before they rupture once again A small tube called catheter is put into the blood vessel through a pin holesized opening in the groin thigh and guided into the brain
Through these tubes platinum coils are deposited in the aneurysm to stop bleeding There is no need for opening up the skull to do these procedures
Advantages
The advantages of the procedure are as follows
There is less bleeding and can be done away with blood transfusion and complications of blood transfusion It does not expose brain to external environment and therefore reduces the risk of infection
Only a few days of hospitalization is required The patient can return home in the shortest possible time The scar is no longer visible
It may be noted that in developed countries at least 70 per cent of the patients with brain haemorrhages are undergoing aneurysm coiling






Date : 26 Dec, 2007
Reference : www.kghospital.com

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