LHSC achieves medical first in sub-10 minute blood clot removing procedure – London | Globalnews.ca

It took less than ten minutes for Dr. Michael Mayich and his team at London Health Sciences Centre to remove a blood clot from an artery inside the brain of Wilene Leyen, marking a life-saving world’s first in stroke-related medicine.

On June 24, the interventional neuroradiologist carried out the procedure using a new device called a balloon distal access catheter (BDAC), which was developed by Kitchener-Waterloo based manufacturer Vena Medical.

Referred to as a mechanical thrombectomy, the procedure works by making a small incision on the patient’s right hip through which the BDAC is inserted and moved up through an artery in the leg that eventually reaches a blood clot in the brain.

The BDAC is then used to temporarily halt blood flow in a vessel, while also applying suction to remove any stroke-causing clots inside. The result is a restoration of blood flow to the brain that’s capable of reversing the symptoms of stroke and preventing permanent brain damage.

“A stroke is a blockage in one of the major vessels of the brain and a vessel that’s blocked will lose upwards of two million brain cells every minute,” said Mayich.

“In a situation like that, every second counts.”

Mayich says the device is similar to ones used in the past for stroke-related procedures, combining a number of existing features to offer a move refined experience for neuroradiologists such as himself.

The BDAC’s implementation marks LHSC’s latest effort to improve the stroke-related treatments it provides, an ongoing improvement that’s made evident in the number of procedures performed each year.

“We’ve gone from doing about 30 to 40 procedures a year, when I started in 2017, and last year we did over 200. It’s looking like we’re on pace to do about 250 this year,” Mayich added.

As for Leyen, the first patient in the world to benefit from use of the BDAC, her reaction is nothing short of an overwhelming sense of gratitude.

“I’m very thankful that it only took ten minutes, not that I would know,” Leyen joked with Global News.

“I’m just very thankful to be alive and be walking and talking and be able to take it all in.”