UConn John Dempsey Hospital’s Stroke Center directed by Dr. Sanjay Mittal, successfully performed its first-ever mechanical thrombectomy procedure on a patient presenting with advanced stroke symptoms in the Emergency Department last week.

The Stroke Center’s first “Stroke Thrombectomy Alert” quickly activated the Cath Lab and Anesthesia teams to prepare for Neurosurgery Chief Dr. Ketan Bulsara’s emergency thrombectomy intervention. The procedure was guided by the Radiology Department Chair Dr. Leo Wolansky and his team’s new neuroimaging CT perfusion imaging technique using RAPID software to successfully remove the stroke patient’s life-threatening clot and restore proper blood flow to the brain.

The multidisciplinary team effort included Dr. Electra Kaloudis, Dr. Gracia Mui, Dr. Ronald Burt, Dr. Brian Bullard, Ellen Benson, Jennifer Sposito, Kerri King, Kari Kriqui, Liz Drotar, Sally Briley, Mike Castagna, Dan Hannon and Elizabeth Bozzuto, along with the hospital’s ICU and second-floor care teams.

Thanks to excellent team work this patient’s life was saved from a basilar artery thrombus which has up to a 90 percent risk of mortality.

The addition of on-site thrombectomy capabilities is part of an institutional-wide initiative to improve neurological patient outcomes for complex conditions, such as stroke, by growing our team of experts, services, and cutting-edge technology.

 

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