Lucknow: A 42-year-old sanitation worker at Dr Shyama Prasad Mukherjee (Civil) Hospital regained her speech and movement in her right arm and leg after receiving timely treatment for an acute ischaemic stroke at the hospital’s newly launched stroke unit.The woman suddenly lost consciousness towards the end of her shift and was taken to the ICU by colleagues. After regaining consciousness, she was unable to speak and had weakness in her right arm and leg. ICU in charge Pushpa recognised the stroke symptoms and alerted neurosurgeon Dr Vinod Kumar Tiwari.A brain CT scan ruled out bleeding, following which doctors administered rTPA thrombolysis. Her speech began returning within about two hours, with significant improvement in the strength of her right arm and leg.Dr Tiwari said eligible patients with acute ischaemic stroke can benefit from thrombolysis when treatment begins within 4.5 hours of symptom onset. He urged people to immediately take patients to the hospital if they develop sudden facial drooping, weakness in an arm or leg, or difficulty speaking.Civil Hospital has five ICU beds, a 24-hour CT scan facility and thrombolytic medicines. Under hospital director Dr GP Gupta, rTPA treatment is being provided free to eligible patients.
