World Stroke Day: New treatment can directly remove a brain clot

The new operation can cost around £16,000

Scientists have developed a new technique to treat people affected by strokes. Only performed in a few hospitals around the world, the treatment consists of fishing out the clot directly from a patient’s brain by inserting a mechanical device – similar to a stent – in the groin.

As the video above shows, these operations can be risky and challenging for surgeons, but they are essential to re-establish the blood flux and prevent brain damage. They also offer an alternative to drug treatment.

The practice of removing a clot from other parts of the body already exists, but the procedure of removing it from a human brain has mostly been done only for a year now.

At the moment, this new operation costs around £16,000 and doctors believe the treatment should become accessible to everyone suffering a brain stroke.

World Stroke Day is celebrated on 29 October to raise awareness in the UK. According to the NHS, in England alone, over 110,000 people a year are victim of a stroke, which is the leading cause of disability and the fourth leading cause of death in the UK.

Older people are most at risk of having strokes, although they can happen at any age.

The symptoms range from weakness in one-half of the body, blurred vision, speech impairment and incontinence to loss of balance and difficulties with memory.

It is critical to immediately seek treatment at a hospital after identifying some of the signs, since it is suspected that for every second that a brain stroke is untreated, 1.4 million neurons are irreversibly lost.