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American Morning

Paging Dr. Gupta: Treating Strokes

Aired February 06, 2004 - 08:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There is new technology that could dramatically change the way doctors treat stroke patients.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now with details.

This is exciting stuff.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is. Medical technology sort of at its best.

When you think about stroke, it's the third leading cause of death, the major cause of long-term disability as well. So, a lot of people putting their heads together to try and figure out how best to treat strokes, especially after the problem has already occurred.

Remind people, first of all, of what a stroke really is, what happens during a stroke. Typically, a blood clot actually travels up through a blood vessel -- you can see there -- into a small blood vessel in the brain, and that blocks off the blood flow, kills that area of the brain, and it subsequently turns black.

What we're talking about now is a new device. It's actually called the Merci (ph) Retrieval System, brand new, not FDA approved yet. Essentially what happens is a little catheter actually finds its way -- you can see there -- a little guide wire comes out and actually turns into a corkscrew. It looks just like a corkscrew. That's why it gets its name that way. And it actually goes up the blood vessel, even into the very small blood vessels into the brain. Remember that clot we are just looking at? It actually gets into that, threads itself into the clot and actually retrieves it, bringing it backwards into the system back outside again.

Now, this system -- by the way, it's just basically a needle that goes into your groin. That guide wire actually threads up all the way into the blood vessel in the brain. You can see an image there. That's an angiogram, where they're actually sucking the clot back out. It's really neat.

COLLINS: It's incredible. When I look at the illustration there, I'm wondering what the chances are of breaking that clot apart, and then obviously running into even more trouble.

GUPTA: That's one of the concerns, certainly. And the FDA has not approved this yet for mass use. It's going to be one of the ways to look at that.

But if you look at a lot of the existing technologies, like the clot-busting drugs, which is a thing that mostly is commonly used, TPA, those can only be given within three hours of someone developing a stroke, and then you have the same problem. You're essentially busting up the clot and potentially sending those clots elsewhere into the brain.

With this system, you can use it up to eight hours after someone has started to develop symptoms, and instead of busting up the clot and sending it further on, you actually bring it back.

COLLINS: Wow, that's amazing.

GUPTA: It's pretty neat.

COLLINS: Now, what about this cooling helmet?

GUPTA: Yes, this is sort of interesting as well. You know, it's all based on sort of the physiology of the brain, what's happening to the brain during a stroke. The consensus of a lot of researchers is that if you cool down the brain, you essentially really slow down the metabolism. Important -- there it is. It looks like a wrestling helmet sort of.

But essentially when you cool down the brain, the brain is not demanding as much blood flow, which is good, because during a stroke you're not getting as much blood flow. That's essentially why the cooling helmet works.

Incidentally, in the past, people would essentially cool down the entire body, but what you find is that the heart and the immune system really like it warm, whereas the brain likes it cold in a situation of a stroke. So, a cooling helmet seems to do the job there.

COLLINS: All right. And one step before all of this, how about prevention? Any new ideas on preventing a stroke in the first place?

GUPTA: And that's a really good question. Again, a lot of people thinking about this, they think about blood thinners typically in people who are at high risk, taking an aspirin or Acumiden (ph) or Heparin, even medications like that. Those work pretty well if you're somebody who is right risk for a stroke.

If you're someone who is just concerned about having a stroke because of your family history, there have been a lot of studies on vitamins, for examples -- high-dose vitamins and their antioxidant properties in terms of diminishing the likelihood of stroke. A lot of those studies really haven't panned out to be true. It's a bit more disappointing sort of on that medication front, as compared to some of these technologies. But still, a lot of research going into this.

COLLINS: I'm familiar with the low-dose aspirin therapy.

GUPTA: That's right, you are. That's right.

COLLINS: I'm probably a little too young for that, maybe not. All right, Sanjay, thank you so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.






Aired February 6, 2004 - 08:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: There is new technology that could dramatically change the way doctors treat stroke patients.
Dr. Sanjay Gupta is joining us now with details.

This is exciting stuff.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: It really is. Medical technology sort of at its best.

When you think about stroke, it's the third leading cause of death, the major cause of long-term disability as well. So, a lot of people putting their heads together to try and figure out how best to treat strokes, especially after the problem has already occurred.

Remind people, first of all, of what a stroke really is, what happens during a stroke. Typically, a blood clot actually travels up through a blood vessel -- you can see there -- into a small blood vessel in the brain, and that blocks off the blood flow, kills that area of the brain, and it subsequently turns black.

What we're talking about now is a new device. It's actually called the Merci (ph) Retrieval System, brand new, not FDA approved yet. Essentially what happens is a little catheter actually finds its way -- you can see there -- a little guide wire comes out and actually turns into a corkscrew. It looks just like a corkscrew. That's why it gets its name that way. And it actually goes up the blood vessel, even into the very small blood vessels into the brain. Remember that clot we are just looking at? It actually gets into that, threads itself into the clot and actually retrieves it, bringing it backwards into the system back outside again.

Now, this system -- by the way, it's just basically a needle that goes into your groin. That guide wire actually threads up all the way into the blood vessel in the brain. You can see an image there. That's an angiogram, where they're actually sucking the clot back out. It's really neat.

COLLINS: It's incredible. When I look at the illustration there, I'm wondering what the chances are of breaking that clot apart, and then obviously running into even more trouble.

GUPTA: That's one of the concerns, certainly. And the FDA has not approved this yet for mass use. It's going to be one of the ways to look at that.

But if you look at a lot of the existing technologies, like the clot-busting drugs, which is a thing that mostly is commonly used, TPA, those can only be given within three hours of someone developing a stroke, and then you have the same problem. You're essentially busting up the clot and potentially sending those clots elsewhere into the brain.

With this system, you can use it up to eight hours after someone has started to develop symptoms, and instead of busting up the clot and sending it further on, you actually bring it back.

COLLINS: Wow, that's amazing.

GUPTA: It's pretty neat.

COLLINS: Now, what about this cooling helmet?

GUPTA: Yes, this is sort of interesting as well. You know, it's all based on sort of the physiology of the brain, what's happening to the brain during a stroke. The consensus of a lot of researchers is that if you cool down the brain, you essentially really slow down the metabolism. Important -- there it is. It looks like a wrestling helmet sort of.

But essentially when you cool down the brain, the brain is not demanding as much blood flow, which is good, because during a stroke you're not getting as much blood flow. That's essentially why the cooling helmet works.

Incidentally, in the past, people would essentially cool down the entire body, but what you find is that the heart and the immune system really like it warm, whereas the brain likes it cold in a situation of a stroke. So, a cooling helmet seems to do the job there.

COLLINS: All right. And one step before all of this, how about prevention? Any new ideas on preventing a stroke in the first place?

GUPTA: And that's a really good question. Again, a lot of people thinking about this, they think about blood thinners typically in people who are at high risk, taking an aspirin or Acumiden (ph) or Heparin, even medications like that. Those work pretty well if you're somebody who is right risk for a stroke.

If you're someone who is just concerned about having a stroke because of your family history, there have been a lot of studies on vitamins, for examples -- high-dose vitamins and their antioxidant properties in terms of diminishing the likelihood of stroke. A lot of those studies really haven't panned out to be true. It's a bit more disappointing sort of on that medication front, as compared to some of these technologies. But still, a lot of research going into this.

COLLINS: I'm familiar with the low-dose aspirin therapy.

GUPTA: That's right, you are. That's right.

COLLINS: I'm probably a little too young for that, maybe not. All right, Sanjay, thank you so much.

GUPTA: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.