Neuroendovascular Intervention
Albany Medical Center is the only hospital in the region to offer advanced neuroendovascular intervention. Specially trained neurosurgeons at Albany Med were first in the region to offer patients this type of emergency treatment for stroke.
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Dr. Boulos performs a cerebral angiogram. |
Patients receive treatment with the Mechanical Embolus Removal in Cerebral Ischemia (MERCI) coil, a clot-retrieval device that can reverse paralysis caused by stroke. The coil is inserted into the blocked brain artery through a catheter, which is fed into the femoral artery in the leg, up through the aorta, and into an artery leading to the brain. The small corkscrew-shaped instrument extends the time window in which a stroke patient can get treatment from 3 to 6 hours, to up to 8 hours.
| Merci Retrieval System | ||
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| The device is inserted into the blocked artery through a catheter, which is fed into the femoral artery in the leg, up through the aorta, and into an artery leading to the brain. | Once the clot has been reached, the corkscrew device is deployed to ensnare the clot. | A balloon is inflated to temporarily stop blood flow while the clot is being withdrawn. The clot is pulled into the catheter and completely out of the body. The balloon is then deflated, and blood flow is restored. |
The Neurosciences Institute’s Stroke Program is the only certified stroke program in Northeastern New York to offer this comprehensive stroke treatment capability.
Other neuro-interventional procedures, only offered at Albany Med, include carotid and intracranial atherosclerosis with stents and aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (cerebral AVMs) with coils and glue.
