Memorial Medical Center's Neurointerventional Radiology Suite

When a loved one suffers from a stroke, you know every second counts. The work of a neurointerventional radiologist could save time and lessen the chances of permanent brain damage.

Neurointerventional radiology uses minimally invasive technologies – microcatheters, balloons and stents – to diagnose and treat strokes as well as aneurysms, blood clots and tumors.

The most common type of stroke, known as an ischemic stroke, occurs because a blood clot becomes lodged in a blood vessel supplying blood to the brain. This is the type of stroke that U.S. Sen. Mark Kirk of Illinois suffered in January.

One way to treat these strokes is through the use of a clot-busting drug. But this drug takes time to be effective. The larger the clot, the longer the time for the drug to take effect.

Elias, Augusto DDS,MD

Once a clot has been identified in the brain with a CT scanner, neurointerventional radiologists – like Augusto Elias, DDS, MD, with Clinical Radiologists, S.C., of Springfield – are able to thread tiny catheters and wires through their patients’ blood vessels to eliminate the clots and restore blood flow to the braim.

With strokes, “time is brain.” The quicker the blocked vessel is opened, the less brain that is permanently damaged.

In addition to Dr. Elias, Memorial has a team of interventional radiologists with Clinical Radiologists providing services in the hospital’s dedicated state-of-the-art interventional radiology suite.

LEARN MORE.

To find out more about neurointerventional radiology services at Memorial Medical Center, you can attend a free community seminar from 6 to 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 21, in the hospital’s Wedeberg Conference Center. Registration is recommended. To make a reservation, call (217) 788-3333.