Every 40 seconds, someone in the United States has a stroke. If a person doesn’t get quick medical attention, stroke can cause death, or permanent disability.
It’s sometimes called a “brain attack” -- an artery in the brain becomes blocked, or a blood vessel bursts, causing bleeding in the brain. Time is brain. The faster doctors can treat a stroke, the better a patient’s chance of recovery.
Now, researchers are testing a new screening method that may predict a patient’s motor function recovery.
University of Cincinnati neurologist Dr. Pooja Khatri and neuroradiologist Dr. Achala Vagal are leading the Verify trial for stroke patients. They’ll use two biomarkers to assess the chance for recovery.
“Our preliminary studies suggests that they’re very good at predicting who will recover their strength, specifically in their arm,” Khatri said.
Researchers will test with transcranial magnetic stimulation, or TMS.
“We’re seeing if the hand moves and we’re actually measuring the impulse of the muscle. So, to see if we’re even seeing tiny muscle movements that tell us that the brain is successfully talking to the hand,” Khatri said.
Researchers will also use MRI to screen a patient’s brain for lesions. The scientists want to determine how much of a pathway between the brain and limbs is blocked.
“What we are really interested is in understanding where is the stroke or that dead brain tissue,” Vagal said.
The researchers say patients will be recruited while they are still in the hospital -- between 48 and 96 hours after their stroke. A total of more than 650 patients are being enrolled at 30 hospital sites across the country.