Stroke Care
Trust our experts to provide you with the latest treatments using the most advanced technology available.
Stroke Symptoms and Warning Signs
A stroke is a medical emergency. Use BE FAST to recognize the warning signs of a stroke:
Balance - Loss of balance
Eyes - Vision impairment
Face - Drooping face
Arms - Loss of strength in arms
Speech - Difficulty speaking
Time - Call 9-1-1 immediately!
El accidente cerebrovascular es una emergencia del cerebro.
RÁPIDO
Rostro caído.
Alteración del equilibrio.
Pérdida de fuerze en el brazo o una pierna.
Impedimento visual repentino.
Dificultad para hablar.
Obten auda. Llama al 911.
Why Choose Us for Stroke Care
If you think you or a loved one is having a stroke, call 911 immediately. With stroke, every minute counts.
You can trust Tower Health hospitals for emergency stroke care. Our three certified stroke centers serve Southeastern Pennsylvania with rapid response treatment to limit the effects of a stroke. Our advanced technology allows us to precisely diagnose the location and type of stroke, and provide clot-busting medications or mechanical interventions to safely and quickly remove the clot from the brain.
How is Stroke Diagnosed?
Timing is very important. To find out if you had a stroke and what treatment is best, you may have several tests.
- CAT Scan. One of the first tests that will be performed. It gives the doctor details about the location, cause, and extent of the brain injury.
- MRI. A more-detailed image than a CAT scan. It may be needed to show deep or small brain injuries.
- Angiography. Dye is injected into the blood vessels of the brain.
- Carotid Ultrasound. Helps to measure the amount of blockage in the carotid arteries that take blood to the brain.
- Cardiac Ultrasound. Measures the size of your heart chambers, thickness of the heart muscle, blood flow speed, and direction to determine if any heart valves are narrowing or leaking.
Stroke Treatment
Rapid-response treatment offers the greatest chance for recovery and reduces the risk of permanent brain damage. Immediate therapy is aimed at removing blood clots that block blood flow to portions of the brain. Treatment involves dissolving the clot with "clot-busting" medication, or removing the clot with a procedure called a mechanical thrombectomy.
If you experience stroke symptoms, specialists will examine you immediately at one of our emergency departments. When needed, the stroke centers at all three Tower Health hospitals can administer clot-busting medication within minutes. Patients with certain "bleeding" strokes, or who need clot retrieval, are immediately transferred to the comprehensive stroke center at Reading Hospital.
After immediate treatment, patients are admitted to a dedicated stroke unit where they are closely monitored and cared for by specialized medical and nursing staff. Our expert team will work to uncover the causes of the stroke and, if an underlying condition is diagnosed, develop a treatment plan.
Answers From Our Stroke Experts
Brandon K Root, MD
Q. What is the most common misconception about strokes?
A. Many people think "this can wait" when they suddenly develop a new sign or symptom of a stroke. However, stroke treatment is extremely time sensitive. The opportunity for treatment lasts hours, not days. It is really important to seek immediate medical attention. Many people also confuse stroke and heart disease. While they are related, a stroke is a "brain attack." Common symptoms include sudden facial weakness, arm or leg weakness, and difficulty speaking.
Shahin Manoochehri, MD
Q. How has stroke treatment improved in recent years?
A. Neurovascular surgery is an ever-expanding field, where new innovations are always being made. This is specifically true in the world of endovascular neurosurgery, where we can perform thrombectomy and aneurysm treatment through tiny incisions on the wrist or the leg. The instruments we use today were not even available five years ago, and five years from now will already be old technology. They will be leap-frogged by the continuous advancements of biomedical engineers and passionate physicians that collaborate to solve extremely complex problems.
