Interventional touch of a completely occluded carotid artery causing a stroke
Raising awareness about stroke, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kalko said: “It is a process that goes from a simple loss of vision, what we call paralysis among people, to being bedridden. It is the third leading cause of death in the world. Just like in the world, life expectancy has also increased in our country. We say the average age of 80, but stroke has now dropped to young ages. In general, a stroke can come without symptoms. In practice, however, patients can come to us with complaints such as temporary loss of vision, speech disorder, memory loss, dizziness and weakness in arms and legs. Unfortunately, these symptoms are often ignored by the patient and their relatives because they are temporary. However, a stroke certainly signals and comes suddenly. 80% of strokes are caused by a clot in the brain. The reason for 20% is cerebral hemorrhage, brain tumor and complications after brain surgery. Of this 80 percent clot, 60 percent is caused by the carotid artery in the neck and 20 percent is caused by clots coming from the heart,” he said.
DAMAGE CANNOT BE DETERMINED IN TEMPORARY ATTACKS
Prof. Kalko also stated that there can be three different situations in stroke patients, saying: “First, there may be no consequences and they can recover completely. The last can have partial consequences, can be disabled. The third can be a being completely bedridden bedridden patient Of course these complications are the most important and the worst outcome unfortunately is death In the patient who presented to the doctor with symptoms of stroke advanced examinations such as brain MRI and brain tomography determine whether there is is from damaged tissue in the brain. In transient seizures usually no damage is detected. This condition can be circumvented by an inexperienced physician. Therefore, a very good history must be taken and the patient examined in detail. Since the most common cause of a stroke is a clot, the source of the clot must be investigated in two ways. “With a simple longitudinal ultrasound of the carotid artery and a very simple cardiac radiography, we can determine the origin of the clot about 90 percent,” he said.
“6 HOURS IS VERY IMPORTANT IN A BATTLE”
Referring to the importance of 6 hours for someone who has suffered a stroke, Prof. Dr. Yusuf Kalko continued his words as follows:
“The first 6 hours are very important in acute patients who are hospitalized within hours. As in the rest of the world, there are stroke centers in our country that intervene in the acute phase. In these patients, we have the option of doing an angiogram immediately and clearing the clots in the brain in the first 6 hours. However, in patients who wait longer than 6 hours and whose jugular vein is 100% occluded, there is a major problem. In patients with 100% occlusion of the jugular vein from 6 hours to 2 months, if there is viable tissue in the brain, the carotid arteries are opened with great success with the hybrid method we developed, and the rehabilitation of the patients after stroke recovery is quick and the risk of consequences decreases. This hybrid method is practiced only in our clinic in the world, especially in the subacute period. Complication rates are very low with this technique, allowing both open and closed surgery to be performed simultaneously with local anesthesia. There is an additional 2 percent neurological risk. The biggest advantage of this technique is that not only can it be done with angiography, but all kinds of manipulations can be performed with the ease and success of surgery. In this technique, angiography is performed from the neck and blood is not given to the brain without certainty. The saying that the hybrid method works wonders is not for nothing. It reminds us that there are hundreds of thousands of patients who need our treatment with the experience we have gained from almost a thousand patients. In our country, 150 thousand people who go from simple temporary loss of vision to bedridden every year suffer a stroke, and 60 thousand of them are caused by the carotid artery. We need to work harder, tell more about what we do and make it known to everyone,” he said.
“BATTLE IS NOT FATE”
Giving information on how healthy people can be protected against stroke, Prof Dr Yusuf Kalko said: “The common denominator of the patients is that they all have high blood pressure. Especially in elderly patients, healthy life, low-cholesterol diet, battle with blood pressure, strict diet, exercise, sugar control, regular doctor checkup, regular medication if necessary, are very important. In particular the annual check-up and I underline here that jugular vein ultrasound should be used in monitoring programmes. Treatment of early carotid artery plaques and stenosis will occur and prevent stroke. In addition, the size and location of the affected area of the brain is more important than stroke age. However, stroke has long been known as a disease of old age, and it normally is. Recently, however, there has been a significant increase in stroke rates at a younger age. Of course, a stroke at a young age is more dramatic. Being disabled and bedridden at a time when human life is most productive is a serious drama. The main causes of stroke at a young age are familial coagulation disorders, inflammatory vascular diseases, rupture of the neck vein and bleeding from a brain tumor.
Prof. Kalko replied: “There is generally no gender discrimination in stroke. However, if he has a family history of stroke, cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, smokes, has diabetes, can’t control his blood pressure, doesn’t pay attention to his diet, lives sedentary, doesn’t take regular medication, and doesn’t care about himself , he is at risk of stroke.