Standard treatment of acute ischemic stroke includes the use of IV tPA (intravenous tissue plasminogen activator), but it must be given within three hours of stroke onset and only after ruling out hemorrhagic stroke.
Until recent years, there was no hope for those patients presented outside the three hour window. Stroke is the third leading cause of death in America and the #1 cause of adult disability. When the 3-hour treatment window has expired Dr. Ali Malek, Medical Director of Interventional Neurology program at St. Mary’s Medical Center, uses the most advanced technology to identify qualified patients whose strokes can be reversed. If a patient qualifies, Dr. Ali Malek uses the latest in Neurointerventional equipment to do minimally-invasive surgery to guide a microscopic catheter into the patient’s groin and track it up safely into the brain arteries and remove the blood clot. Neurointerventional procedures are performed under the guidance of advanced X-ray monitors. Recent advances in imaging enables the highly-trained physician to treat blocked arteries of the brain by removing, breaking-up, or even sucking out the blood clot. St. Mary's Medical Center
has invested $3.1 million dollars in the latest Neurointerventional equipment and devices. With the assitance of this equipment Dr. Ali Malek helps saves the lives of patients and allows them to return to a normal life in some cases before the stroke has disabled them.