Torrance Memorial Medical Center
operates one of the busiest Interventional Radiology programs in the
South Bay. Armed with the knowledge gained from the CT scan, the
physicians in Interventional Radiology can determine exactly where a
blockage has occurred in the brain by inserting a thin flexible tube
called a catheter into the carotid artery and injecting contrast into
the blood vessels. The contrast mixes with the blood, showing blood
flowing through the intricate vessel network in the brain and reveals
the precise location of any blockages.
Intravenous (IV) tPA
If
an acute stroke patient qualifies for the clot-busting drug, tPA, it
can be administered intravenously, through an intravenous line (IV
line) in the arm. This is called intravenous (IV) tPA. The medication
will travel through the blood stream until it reaches the blood vessel
where the clot is located and dissolve it.
Intra-arterial tPA
Another
method of administering tPA, called intra-arterial tPA puts the
medication directly where the clot is located. A catheter is inserted
up to, or inside the clot in the brain and tPA is fed directly on the
clot, dissolving it.
A Mechanical Approach
Some patients may not qualify for
tPA, or they may come to the hospital too late to have the drug
administered. These patients may benefit from a new, innovative
mechanical method performed at Torrance Memorial to remove all or part
of the clot, without the trauma of major surgery. Using a
micro-catheter, our interventional radiologist uses a specialized clot
retrieval device to literally remove the clot from a blood vessel from
inside the brain. The technique is similar to what is done in the
catheterization laboratory or cath lab in Cardiology to open blood
vessels of the heart.