Key points from today’s guests:

Jermaine Butts, stroke survivor

• Having dinner with his wife, his face began to twitch and his wife immediately recognized the symptoms of a stroke and called 911.
• Her quick action may have saved his life.
• It is important to use BE FAST to help identify strokes:
  • Balance changes
  • Eyesight problems
  • Face drooping/numbness
  • Arm weakness
  • Speech difficulty
  • Time – call 911
  • As a roofer, he is back to working, but does more work in the office for now until his right side strengthens.

Dr. Michael Abraham, endovascular surgeon, The University of Kansas Health System; director, stroke research, The University of Kansas Medical Center

• Jermaine had a carotid artery stroke. One side of the brain had no blood flow.
• We activated the team – the tech, the nurse, anesthesia – as we waited for him to arrive.
• As soon as he got to the angiography suite, we put him under general anesthesia and we did an endovascular thrombectomy or clot retrieval.
• That involves taking a long catheter through his arteries and up in his brain and pulling out the clot.
• We will implant a stent to help keep blood flow from being restricted.
• Nationally, we need more outreach on stroke education, especially for the Black population because they are disproportionately affected.

Dr. Prasanna Eswaradass, neurologist, The University of Kansas Health System

• We really wanted to identify what caused his stroke.
• He had a carotid web, which is just a small protrusion inside the carotid artery.
• Unfortunately, this condition could not really have been detected earlier because scanning the carotid arteries is not routine.
• One of the best things is just having a good primary care doctor and conducting routine preventative health maintenance screenings.
• “Time is brain.” For every one minute without blood supply, you lose about two million neurons.
• The reason this is a success story is thanks to his wife, who got him to the right place at the right time.

Monday, May 6 at 8 a.m. is the next Morning Medical Update. One nurse had a simple idea to improve patient safety and save time. Now this idea may be used in hospitals everywhere.

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