News Releases

Stroke Team's Success with Clot-Busting Drug Attracts International Attention

Houston, Texas, June 18, 2004 -- Stroke is the nation’s No. 3 killer and leading cause of severe and long-term disability. The Stroke Treatment Team at The University of Texas Medical School, in collaboration with Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and Houston Fire Department-Emergency Medical Services, is attracting worldwide attention for record results achieved following administration of the intravenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) to stroke victims.

A news crew from the Japan Broadcasting Corporation recently visited the Stroke Treatment Team at Memorial Hermann Hospital and Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospital to observe these world-renowned experts administering the drug within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms. While American physicians have used t-Pa for years, t-Pa approval in Japan is still pending.

Led by James Grotta, M.D., the Stroke Treatment Team is comprised of neurologists, emergency physicians, emergency department nurses, and paramedics. The team’s success is due to its ability to quickly recognize stroke symptoms such as difficulty walking, loss of balance or coordination, confusion, trouble speaking or understanding, sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body, and to immediately alert other team members. Stroke specialists are available 24 hours a day and paramedics and triage nurses are specially trained to identify stroke symptoms.

t-Pa is for patients, who suffer from ischemic strokes which are caused by blood clots in the brain. The clot-busting drug, which can reduce or reverse symptoms of the stroke, is the only approved treatment.

“Whereas nationally only about three percent of ischemic stroke patients receive t-PA, we’re able to administer to as many as 20 percent of our ischemic stroke patients,” said Dr. Grotta. “That dramatic difference is a result of the well-defined, cooperative working relationship that exists between our immediate response Stroke Team, the emergency departments of Memorial Hermann and Memorial Hermann Southwest Hospitals and HFD-EMS.”

Japan Broadcasting Corporation documented the team responding to and addressing real crises affecting stroke victims and their families to then educate consumers in Japan about benefits they may soon realize.

For more information, contact Media Relations.