Clot Retrieval Devices

It's a sobering truth - only 3 percent to 4 percent of ischemic stroke patients can be treated with intravenous (IV) tPA, the standard clot-busting medication. That's because most stroke patients arrive at the hospital after the time window for safely administering tPA has passed.

In this case, The Medical Center of Plano employs minimally invasive clot retrieval devices - the Merci Retrieval System® and The Penumbra System®. Used in our neurointerventional bi-plane angiography suite, these devices can minimize or reverse brain damage in stroke patients.

This catheter-based technology physically removes the clot, clearing the way for blood flow to the brain. It also extends the time window for treatment - up to 12 hours after the onset of stroke symptoms (compared to three to four-and-a-half hours with IV tPA). That translates to lives saved and brain damage prevented.

"I have seen stroke patients come in completely paralyzed, not able to speak," says Dr. Vallabh Janardhan, medical director of the stroke program at The Medical Center of Plano. "After extracting the blood clots through our clot retrieval procedure, they were able to walk and talk again. Such cases are living testaments to how powerful this technology really is."

Cutting-edge clot retrieval devices are part of NeuroLink's comprehensive stroke care program. The Medical Center of Plano is the first and only hospital in Collin County (and one of just a few in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex) to offer this superior technology.