Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys report new guidelines published by the American Stroke Association that encourage care for ischemic stroke patients as quickly as possible to prevent crucial brain damage. Clot-busting drugs and other treatments should be administered within one hour of arriving in the emergency room, say experts on strokes. However, before that can occur patients and their loved ones must recognize the symptoms of a stroke and act FAST.

F.A.S.T. is an acronym that can help people to detect signs of someone who is having a stroke.

F ace drooping: Does one side of the face droop or is it numb?
A rm weakness: Is one arm weak or numb?
S peech difficulty: Is speech slurred, are you unable to speak or are you hard to understand?
T ime to call 911: If you have any of these symptoms — even if they go away — call 911 and get to the hospital immediately.

Medical Malpractice Attorneys Say Ischemic Strokes are Common, Failure to Timely Diagnose and Treat an Ischemic Stroke Can Be Detrimental

According to the American Stroke Association, ischemic strokes are the most common type of stroke and account for 90 percent of all strokes. An ischemic stroke is caused by a blood clot in an artery in the brain. Doctors can complete a brain scan to find the clot, and then administer tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), a drug used to break up the clot. According to experts, tPA is most successful when given within four and a half hours of the first appearance of symptoms of a stroke.

Aside from tPA treatment, experts say hospitals with stroke centers can offer other forms of specialized care like stent retrievers. Stent retrievers work faster than tPA, but works only on the largest clots. Stent retrievers are catheters that are threaded through the affected brain artery to expand the vessel, grab the clot and remove it. In any case, timely diagnosis of a stroke is critical to receiving the appropriate care. Failure to diagnose a stroke can result in severe, permanent injuries requiring long-term care and resulting in additional medical expenses.

Medical Malpractice Attorneys in Philadelphia and New Jersey

The Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys at Messa & Associates are experienced at medical malpractice cases resulting from failure to diagnose and treat an ischemic stroke. Our extremely skilled team of medical malpractice attorneys and medical experts are dedicated to ensuring you receive proper compensation for your personal injuries. If you or a loved one has suffered an ischemic stroke that caused additional personal injuries that may have been prevented if timely treated or any other type of negligent care received by a medical provider, contact the medical malpractice attorneys of Messa & Associates for a free consultation. Call toll free at 1-877-MessaLaw, or submit a free online inquiry.