There are two different types of strokes, each with different time scopes and methods of treatment.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), about 87% of strokes are ischemic, caused by blockage of blood flow to the brain. The remainder of strokes are hemorrhagic, caused by bleeding in the brain.
Most of the public’s attention is focused on the more common ischemic strokes. When people think of strokes they know that there’s a short time window to get to the hospital for treatment with the drug tPA, a clot-busting medication that dissolves clots and restores blood flow. Stroke neurologists recommend that patients get to the hospital as quickly as possible for diagnosis and treatment, but generally believe that there can be some therapeutic benefit when administering tPA within 4.5 hours of the onset of stroke symptoms.
One of the first things that emergency room (ER) and strokes physicians do when a patient presents with stroke symptoms is order a brain CT scan. A lot of clients who contact us at Painter Law Firm to discuss possible stroke misdiagnosis cases comment that they were told that their brain CT scan was negative. They’re surprised to learn that a negative CT scan doesn’t mean that a patient isn’t having an ischemic stroke. Instead, it means that there’s not in active bleed (hemorrhagic stroke) that would be a contraindication to give tPA. Think about it—it could be life-threatening to give a clot busting drug to a patient is already bleeding.
While ischemic stroke cases focus on whether ER or stroke center personnel appropriately recognized and acted upon signs of stroke by administering tPA, hemorrhagic stroke cases are different. Healthcare defendants often make arguments that there’s no standard of care to treat this less common type of stroke, even at advanced comprehensive stroke centers. This defense argument persists even though it’s extremely common for doctors to order medical interventions including steroids and blood pressure medications.
As medical malpractice attorneys who regularly handle stroke cases, we keep up-to-date with the current state of stroke medical research. That’s why I’m writing to share a new study that was announced this week by Memorial Hermann Texas Medical Center and The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.
These institutions in Houston’s Texas Medical Center are part of over 100 centers participating in a trial of a new hemorrhagic stroke treatment called Recombinant Factor VIIa (rFVIIa). The study aims to determine if this new medical treatment improves hemorrhagic stroke outcomes if it’s administered within the first two hours after stroke symptoms began.
If you’ve been seriously injured because of a stroke misdiagnosis or delayed treatment in Texas, then contact a top-rated experienced Houston, Texas medical malpractice lawyer to discuss your potential case.
