Pudukkottai: A team of doctors and paramedical staff of the Government Medical college hospital (GMCH), Pudukkottai, saved a 40-year-old patient, who suffered a stroke recently.
In a release on Monday, Dr AL. Meenakshi Sundaram, dean, GMCH said that the patient Rajkumar of Melur village had suffered left hemiplegic stroke on May 23, whereby the left upper and lower limb were paralysed in addition to difficulty in speech. He was given first aid at Government hospital, Thirumayam and referred to GMCH for treatment.
Dr Chinna Mariyappan, civil assistant surgeon, examined the patient and found the left upper limb and lower limb were paralyzed. A CT scan found that the patient had an 'Ischemic infarct' on the right side of the brain.
Hence, the newer drug 'Alteplase' which costs around Rs.40, 000 was administered to the patient. Within 20 minutes, the patient noticed movement in the left upper and lower limb and within one hour he recovered significantly. On the third day, he could walk without support, said hospital sources said, adding, the patient would be discharged soon.
Dr Meenakshi Sundaram further said, "commonly, the blood supply to the brain would be affected by tiny clots or because of hemorrhage in the brain. The incidence of stroke is more in diabetic and hypertensive patients. Normally the hemiplegic patients recover completely in a span of six months and they require physiotherapy continuously.
On the other hand, he said the drug 'Alteplase' which is a 'tissue plasminogen activator' dissolves the blood clot in the blood vessels of the brain. Hence, the patient recovers immediately and the continuous physiotherapy may not be needed.
The only hiccup in this treatment is that it would be effective only within a period of four-and-a-half hours after the evolution of stroke. It will not be useful after four-and-a-half hours and also if the hemiplegia is due to hemorrhage inside the brain.
"This drug is issued free of cost by Tamil Nadu Accident and Emergency Care Initiative and the GMCH Pudukkottai performed this treatment for Ischemic stroke with 'Alteplase', the first time in Pudukkottai", he added.
