“There was a need for an interventional neurosurgeon to provide services to the patients in Wake County and beyond,” said Jacob Rodman, executive director of the Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic.

Raleigh Neurosurgical Clinic hired Dr. Glen Pollock, specifically to perform a type of brain surgery known as “stent retrieval.” Surgeons insert a stent retriever into a patient through an artery in the groin, guide it into a stroke victim’s brain, latch onto the blood clot that’s obstructing blood flow and pull it out.  

The Clinic made the decision to bring on a dedicated neurosurgeon after several studies published in the New England Journal of Medicine found stroke victims treated with the device had almost double the chance of returning to a functional life than patients treated with drugs alone.² Results were so impressive that, in the summer of 2015, the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association took the rare step of revising its standard of care guidelines to recommend using stent retrievers in certain stroke cases.³

“The ability to quickly remove the clot leads to better outcomes. Patients do far better. Less disability, less time in the hospital,” said Dr. Pollock.

In Wake County, Raleigh Neurosurgical believes as many as 150 patients a year could be treated with the device. 

“Now the hard part is systems have to be created within health systems to treat these patients in the appropriate amount of time and to get them the appropriate treatment,” said Dr. Pollock.

Raleigh’s Wake Med is now able to perform stent retrievals, but more than 90 percent of US hospitals are not. Unlike urban Raleigh – many rural health systems don’t employ brain surgeons. Many don’t have the infrastructure to quickly recognize potential stent retrieval cases or to get stroke victims to someone who can perform the procedure in time.

It’s estimated only 1 in 18 Americans who might benefit from the procedure actually receive it.⁴

“That’s a big challenge,” said Dr. Pollock. “There’s a lot of community education that needs to take place, specifically that if you’re having stroke symptoms, you need to get to the hospital.”

Medtronic is helping speed up that process, through outreach to hospitals and health systems, and public awareness campaigns such as Stroke Camps, held in several cities across the country.

Residents of Raleigh don’t have to wait. But elsewhere – it’s going to take time for the healthcare infrastructure to catch up to technology.