Comprehensive Stroke Center
Through our Comprehensive Stroke Center in South Florida, we provide round-the-clock personnel, infrastructure, expertise and programs to diagnose and treat stroke and TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) patients, who require a high degree of medical and surgical care, specialized tests or interventional treatments. We also offer rehabilitation and after-care for stroke/TIA patients.
Our expert interventional and neurosurgical teams can remove and dissolve blood clots with pinpoint precision and place a stent to open a clogged vessel within minutes of a stroke.
A recipient of the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association’s Get with the Guidelines® Stroke Gold Plus Performance Achievement Award (2010-2013), we ensure stroke patients are provided with care that is aligned with the latest scientific guidelines. Our AHCA (Agency for Health Care Administration) Certified Comprehensive Stroke Center is also distinguished by The Joint Commission (TJC) as a Primary Stroke Center. According to TJC, its Certificate of Distinction for Primary Stroke Centers "recognizes centers that make exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes for stroke care." It signifies that the services we provide "have the critical elements to achieve long-term success in improving outcomes" and that our quality of care "is effectively managed to meet the unique and specialized needs of stroke patients."
Internationally-Acclaimed Specialist and Advanced Technology Team Up to ‘Undo’ Stroke Damage
Previously, intravenous acute stroke treatment was only available for patients suffering a stroke from zero to three hours. With the advanced technology available at Holy Cross Hospital’s neurointerventional radiology suite, Laszlo Miskolczi, MD, award-winning Interventional Neuroradiologist, is able to increase the treatment window up to eight hours. This combination of board-certified specialist and cutting-edge technology makes it possible to treat stroke victims who arrive too late for the intravenous therapy.
Patients suffering from a massive occluding blood clot can have their clot identified and removed using the Philips Allura Xper FD20/20. The machine is able to pinpoint the location of a blood clot with exacting precision and then pulled out through a minimally invasive procedure or dissolved by injecting medication directly into the clot.
“There are other benefits with this technology as well,” according to Dr. Miskolczi. “In addition to the increased treatment time window for stroke victims, we can completely reverse the effects of the stroke in 10 to 20% of the cases and those patients can leave the hospital within two to three days. This simply was not possible before when the patient had a large, occlusive clot. In other cases, we can dramatically reduce the effects of the stroke, making them less severe.”
This technology also allows us to conduct minimally invasive procedures to treat a wide range of vascular issues: carotid artery disease, intracranial stenosis and brain aneurysms. These catheter-based procedures present fewer risks and require no head shaving or haircutting, resulting in minimal scarring and shorter recovery time than traditional surgical approaches.
