ER Stroke Device in Use at U

ER Stroke Device in Use at U


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Ed Yeates Reporting ER's incredible drama of a stroke victim Thursday showed doctors using an amazing new device to literally pluck out a blood clot in the brain. It's a real tool ready for use on real patients at the University of Utah.

Just like this patient in tonight's E.R., Craig Cordes was panicking, his mind racing.

Craig Cordes, Stroke Patient: “Here I am laying on the floor and my mind is just racing along saying, ‘Come on guy, get up.’ And it would not come back and answer me.”

Craig might have been a candidate for this new device at the University of Utah's nationally accredited stroke center, had he gotten there a little sooner. But he was too close to the end of a six hour window - the time frame needed to use the device.

Had it happened, a small catheter called the "Stroke Retriever" would snake its way from the groin, all the way up through the carotid artery, even farther!

Elaine Skalabrine, M.D., Director, University of Utah Stroke Center: “The catheter goes all the way up into the brain to where the clot may be.”

At the site, a pin sized device punctures the blockage, converts into a corkscrew, then pulls the clot away, like popping a cork from a bottle. It drags the clot in one complete piece all the way back then sucks it into a larger catheter.

Though the device is still awaiting its first use here the U center pulled Craig through. He's on his feet, walking, talking, soon to be…

Craig Cordes: “I want to get up. I want to go back to work.”

And he will because the odds for treating stroke now more than ever are in his favor.

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