A simple tactic to mitigate errors
No matter how much patients may trust their physician, they still deal with much fear before a neurointerventional procedure. Mostly, they fear neurologic complications, which are among the most severe and devastating in all of medicine.1 The high level of complexity inherent to neurointerventional procedures raises this risk. Patient comorbidities, unexpected findings, unfamiliar devices, challenging […]
Addressing stroke care access disparities
A recent systematic review of disparities in access to stroke treatment between racial minorities and white patients examined 30 studies published from Jan. 1, 2010, to April 5, 2021. There are significant barriers to quality care and resulting poorer outcomes for Black, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American stroke patients when compared with white patients. Specifically, white patients used […]
Reducing disability and death: What is next for stroke triage and transport?
Michael Chen (Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, USA) discusses the growing awareness around the need for timely interventions in stroke care in the USA, and outlines efforts being undertaken by the Get Ahead of Stroke campaign to address this moving forward. The need to improve stroke triage and transport has never been more important. Since 2015, the New […]
Brain aneurysm Q&A featuring Emilia Clarke
Actor Emilia Clarke recently stunned fans by revealing how she almost died of a pair of brain aneurysms and a bleeding stroke in a story for The New Yorker. Her medical emergency struck shortly after she finished filming the first season of “Game of Thrones” in 2011, when she was 24. We contacted Michael Chen, MD, a neurointerventionalist at Rush […]
Senescence
Recently, I just took care of a woman in her mid 80s who had a large brain aneurysm discovered by accident after she tripped, fell and hit her head. Fortunately, her scan did not reveal any blood, or any other serious injury for that matter. But what we were left with was this finding that […]
What to look for in a doctor
In medicine, as in any profession, there is quite a wide range of physician’s skills, knowledge, interests and personalities. All of these factors can play a role in the success they have in caring for patients. These issues are of particular importance when caring for someone diagnosed with a brain aneurysm. As a patient, your […]
Watch it: Are wearables the early warning solution for strokes?
Part of what makes strokes so devastating is how they seem to happen suddenly. One minute everything is fine. Then a clot forms, travels up to the brain and you can instantly lose sight, speech and strength. Sometimes the symptoms can be so bad that you can no longer care for yourself and you may […]
Will I Develop Another Brain Aneurysm?
A frequent concern patients voice during the followup visit is their risk of developing another brain aneurysm. Although the risk is, on average, low, in select situations or with certain risk factors, the risk may be higher and justify more frequent surveillance imaging and aggressive treatment if any are discovered. Graf and Hamby[1], in 1964, […]
The Unintended Effects of Expectations
The January 9th, 2015 episode of This American Life featured a story titled “The Batman,” about Daniel Kish, who’s blind, but can navigate the world by clicking with his tongue. This gives him a surprising amount of information about what’s around him by listening to the echos generated from his clicks. As a result, he […]