The latest innovations in stroke treatment

Global Neurosciences Institute at Crozer is redefining patient-centered care. When it comes to a neurologic condition, every patient deserves the most skilled, attentive and compassionate team of experts in their corner. Global Neurosciences Institute (GNI) delivers just that.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Mandy Binning of GNI talked with Metro about the exciting advancements they’re making in stroke care.

What are the signs and symptoms of a stroke?

Stroke has a very broad range of symptoms and signs. The most common ones would be numbness, tingling or weakness on one side of the body, trouble speaking, facial droop, and difficulty seeing. More subtle signs of stroke could be a sudden and severe headache, dizziness or imbalance.

How prevalent are strokes?

Between 750,000 and one million strokes occur in the U.S. per year, and that number is just going up because the population is aging. We’re also seeing strokes in younger and younger people.

What should you do if you think you or a loved one is experiencing a stroke?

The most important thing to do is call 911 and alert them that you or someone else is having a stroke. Let them know the time the symptoms started and any other relevant medical information, including any medication the patient is taking. It’s very important not to delay calling 911 if you have these symptoms because most of our treatments are time sensitive. It doesn’t help to sleep it off or wait an hour to see if you feel better because by then, it might be too late to do anything.

Tell us about the stroke care initiatives at GNI.

The standard of care for patients having acute stroke symptoms is delivery of a medicine known as IV tPA. It’s a clot-busting drug that’s typically given within four and a half hours of the onset of stroke symptoms in certain patients. GNI is using the latest and greatest research to extend this timeframe.

In very select cases, we’re giving it up to nine hours later. We’re doing this through our Neurological Emergency Department, which is really one of the first of its kind. Patients with neurological emergencies are triaged to a special area of the emergency department with specially trained physicians and the most forward-thinking technology.

What makes GNI uniquely qualified to treat strokes?

Our emergency department physicians have specific neuro training and stroke training. We also have vascular neurosurgeons who are uniquely qualified to treat stroke patients with a variety of minimally invasive treatments and state-of-the-art facilities and equipment. We don’t just rely on the latest research; we ourselves are directly involved in the latest research.

We’re helping to develop the protocols that will be the standard of care in the future.

Global Neurosciences Institute at Crozer is home to an extraordinarily innovative team of highly skilled, nationally recognized neurosurgeons, subspecialty neurologists, neuro-pharmacists, neurological ED physicians, and neuroscience researchers.

They are committed to providing collaborative, complete care that’s 100 percent patient-centered and based on the most advanced research and technologies.

Visit www.gnineuro.org or call 844-464-6387 to learn more.