That cuts stroke deaths
‘ I now feel so much fitter and healthier’
very unwell, started to collapse and couldn’t speak properly.”
The cardiologist, recognising the signs of stroke, called an ambulance which took Jim to Leeds General Infirmary. Doctors treated him with a new device called Solitaire which is like a tiny net that is used to capture and remove blood clots.
Dr Tufail Patankar, a consultant interventional neuroradiologist at Leeds General Infirmary, threaded a catheter or flexible tube up through an artery in Jim’s groin to his brain.
The net was gently expanded until it formed a cage, measuring 4mm by 20mm, around the clot to capture and remove it.
“Although we can give medication to break up blood clots, they are effective in only 20 per cent of cases where the clot is in a large artery, as in Jim’s case,” says Dr Patankar.
“But Solitaire is the biggest recent medical advance because it can capture clots in large arteries and is effective in opening the blocked artery completely in 70- 80 per cent of cases.”
Several major studies have now shown that Solitaire cuts death rates by half.
“Since I’d been sedated, I was only vaguely aware of what was happening,” says Jim. “I could hear the doctors talking but it didn’t hurt. It was amazing.”
Since Jim’s heart was still racing, he stayed in hospital for two weeks while doctors tried different medication to control his heart rate. Once he was discharged Jim still felt weak and tired. Even taking a shower was an effort.
Doctors offered a treatment called cardioversion, where doctors give the heart an electric shock to try to re- establish its normal rhythm.
But on the day of his cardioversion appointment Jim stepped out of the shower feeling more energetic than he had for weeks.
“Doctors were amazed,” he says. “They had tried every medication to stop the abnormal rhythm and suddenly my heart had simply gone back into normal rhythm, probably because of the medication, which worked that day, so now I no longer have AF.
“Since I had no appetite in hospital and have worked hard to lose weight since I came out, I’m now five stone lighter than I was.
“My GP had warned that by being overweight I risked heart disease but now I feel fitter and healthier than I have for many years.”
“We have achieved wonderful results using Solitaire at Leeds,” says Dr Patankar.
“The challenge now is to roll out this excellent care to the rest of the country. This could save large amounts of money, since stroke is one of the biggest causes of death and disability in the UK.”
Jim agrees. “Now that I’ve seen other patients who are left disabled by a stroke, unable to speak properly or to feed themselves, I feel incredibly lucky,” he says.