Man who suffered 100 mini-strokes in a week saved in Delhi hospital with stenting

NEW DELHI: A 65-year-old man who suffered transient ischemic attacks or mini-strokes over 100 times in a week before he landed in hospital was given a new lease of life by doctors who used intracranial stenting to clear the blockage in his right internal carotid artery in the brain.

There are two types of strokes - ischemic stroke caused by blockage of blood flow to the brain and haemorrhagic stroke that occurs due to bleeding in arteries in the brain.

Doctors at BLK Max Hospital said that because of smoking, the patient's blood vessels had narrowed and blood supply was only 90% on the right side and the left side was blocked. He felt weak but could not identify the reason. He had visited several doctors but no one was able to identify the problem.

Dr Vinit Banga, associate director neurology and head neurovascular intervention, told TOI that Niwash Johar from Hapur had recurrent episodes of weakness in his right arm and leg along with difficulty in speaking and understanding for the last six months. "Initially, these episodes used to occur 1-2 times every week and lasted less than five minutes but gradually, the frequency increased to multiple episodes per day along with increase in duration of these attacks which used to last for more than 10-15 minutes," the doctor said.

"The patient consulted multiple hospitals over six months. He was tired and disappointed when he approached us," Dr Banga said.

He added that it's important for stroke patients to have expert consultation so that the reason for the stroke can be recognised and treated in time. There could be many reasons for a stroke. The most important thing is to find the cause and treat it effectively.
The vessels supplying blood to the brain can get narrow because of many reasons such as diabetes, hypertension, smoking, poor lifestyle as well as high cholesterol. Usually, they can be treated with medicines along with lifestyle changes and risk factor control but in some cases when it is too narrow and severe they might need intervention like stenting, Dr Banga said.

When Johar reached Max, he was advised to undergo angiography (DSA) for a proper diagnosis. It was found that the patient had complete occlusion of vessels supplying blood to the left side of his brain, along with severe narrowing of blood vessels supplying blood to the right side of the brain. The deficiency of blood and oxygen to the brain was causing repeated strokes.

He was advised to undergo intracranial stenting to restore proper supply of blood to the brain, after which he improved dramatically with no further stroke attacks, doctors said.