A Leader in Advanced Stroke Care

Treatment time is critical for stroke patients. When minutes count, having an advanced stroke center with the technology and capability to care for you can make all of the difference. At Saint Francis, we’ve assembled an experienced team of medical specialties to better attend to the critical needs of stroke patients in our community and help improve their outcomes. From our ER to our Interventional Radiology Department our staff understands rapid intervention leads to better outcomes. After a stroke, you’ll benefit from our acute rehabilitation service. There is a window of time in which your body will gain the most from rehabilitation therapy. We’ll use that time to the fullest because we’re in this together.

What does it mean to be Thrombectomy-capable Stroke Center?

It means Saint Francis Hospital - Memphis meets the rigorous standards for performing Endovascular Therapy (EVT), a specialized surgical procedure to remove a blood clot from the brain during an Ischemic Stroke.

When it comes to stroke, “Time is Brain.” That’s because there is a small window of time for treatment to be effective. Most strokes are caused by blood clots plugging a blood vessel or artery in the brain (ischemic stroke). Medical interventions, such as intravenous tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), are used to treat ischemic stroke patients. tPA works by dissolving the clot and improving blood flow to the part of the brain being deprived of blood flow. With the addition of mechanical thrombectomy - an emergent procedure to remove a blood clot from a brain artery that is causing acute neurological deficits called a stroke, physicians at Saint Francis are now able to directly remove these clots more quickly and effectively than tPA alone.

Stroke Care Team

Every 40 seconds in the United States someone has a stroke, making it the fifth leading cause of death among adults. At our center, you’ll work with a diverse team of passionate staff members that can provide a continuum of care. This group of doctors and nurses bring different specialists and skill sets together for a single purpose—to get you better. From the neurologists that will coordinate your treatment to the nurses in our Step Down Unit who will provide intermediate care between divisions of the hospital, you’ll benefit from each members expertise as they work to help you recover.

What is Stroke?

A stroke is an emergency requiring immediate medical attention. Strokes happen when blood flow to the brain is interrupted, causing brain cells to begin dying from lack of oxygenated blood.

There are two major kinds of stroke:

• Ischemic Stroke - The most common, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel or artery in the brain. This clot causes a region of the brain to be deprived of oxygen and essential nutrients, leading to death of brain cells.
• Hemorrhagic Stroke - This type of stroke is caused by a blood vessel breaking and bleeding into the brain. Two types of weakened blood vessels that typically cause hemorrhagic stroke are aneurysms and arteriovenous malformations (AVMs).
  • Brain Aneurysms - A brain aneurysm occurs when a blood vessel develops a weak area in the wall that allows the vessel to balloon out and fill with blood.
  • Arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) - AVMs happen when a group of blood vessels in your body forms incorrectly. In these malformations, arteries and veins are unusually tangled.

Stroke Signs and Symptoms

• A sudden, severe headache
• Seizures
• Loss of sensation in part of the body
• Muscle weakness
• Changes in vision
• Facial paralysis
• Drooping eyelids
• Problems speaking
• Changes in a sense of smell
• Problems with motion
• Dizziness
• Loss of consciousness

If you experience any of the stroke signs, or identify the signs in someone else, B.E. F.A.S.T. and dial 911. Use the National Stroke Association’s B.E. F.A.S.T. test to help you remember the warning signs and symptoms of stroke:

• Balance - Balance loss – Check to see if the person has trouble walking or standing up right
• Eyesight - Eyesight loss – Is the person experiencing loss of eyesight?
• Face - Facial weakness - Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
• Arms - Arm weakness - Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
• Speech - Speech problems - Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence. Are the words slurred? Can the patient repeat the sentence correctly?
• Time - If a person is having trouble with these basic commands, call 911 immediately.

B.E. F.A.S.T. to help you remember the signs.Treating Stroke

Even if these signs or symptoms fluctuate or disappear, you should still call 911 immediately.

Stroke Outcomes & Performance

Saint Francis Memphis received the American Heart Association’s Get with the Guidelines® - Stroke Gold Plus with Target: Type 2 Diabetes Honor Roll.

Saint Francis Hospital – Memphis 2022 Outcomes and Performances in Caring for Acute Stroke Patients.

• 2022 Door to Needle (DTN) average for tPA was 30 minutes: 10%
• Door to Alteplase in 45 minutes: 21%.
• Door to Alteplase in 60 minutes: 55.2%

YTD 2022 Door to Puncture (DTP) median for mechanical thrombectomy was 89 minutes.

YTD 2022 CSTK-5 Hemorrhagic (bleed) Transformation post tPA and/or thrombectomy 2.4%.