Health Spotlight | New trial for diagnosing strokes

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Stroke, it’s the leading cause of death for Americans. Every 40 seconds someone will suffer from one. There are two types: Ischemic and hemorrhagic. In an ischemic stroke, a blood vessel becomes blocked and the brain becomes deprived of oxygen. In a hemorrhagic stroke, the brain is flooded with blood from a burst aneurysm. The drug TPA became a lifesaver for the stroke caused by a clot. And now, the same doctors who used that drug for the first time in the world are now testing another drug to help people who suffer a hemorrhagic stroke.

When a person is having a stroke — every minute, every second, counts. It’s a race against the clock to save brain cells and save lives. Dr. Joseph Broderick, MD, Neurologist at the University of Cincinnati Gardner Neuroscience Institute, has been running that race for almost 40 years.

“I arrived at University of Cincinnati in 1987, and we treated the first patient with TPA in the world in 1987,”Broderick said.

TPA has been very successful at stopping damage in ischemic strokes, and now Broderick is working on a way to stop brain bleeds after a stroke.

“But there’s a good number of ’em,” Broderick said. “They’re gonna continue to grow. So, if we can stop the growth in its tracks, we can have an opportunity to improve outcome.”

Broderick is leading a global study on a drug that has been used for decades to help hemophiliac’s blood to clot. Recombinant factor Vlla helps stop bleeding in the brain.

“We looked at people who were within the very early time windows within the first couple hours after onset, that’s when the drug seemed to have its greatest benefit,” Broderick said.

One way they are getting to patients faster — a mobile stroke unit where brain images can be taken on the spot and the drug given enroute to the hospital.

“We wanted to make sure we could treat people within two hours,” Broderick said.

Broderick said due to the time limitations, the trial will also engage in a practice known as “exception from informed consent.” That means the FDA has given permission to give treatment quickly, even without consent of the patient or family member. The trial will enroll more than 800 patients in 100 cities across the U.S., Japan, Canada, and Europe.

This story was created from a script aired on WISH-TV. Health Spotlight is presented by Community Health Network.