Faster Care, Better Outcomes

Strokes are fast. We’re faster. A stroke can come out of nowhere. Our team is standing by. If needed, additional specialists are just a phone call away. As the fifth leading cause of death in the U.S., you bet we take strokes seriously. We want to prevent as much damage to your brain as possible, and that’s why we constantly monitor our response time to patients experiencing a stroke. There is always room to improve.

The hospital has some of the latest diagnostic and therapeutic advances and offers a wide range of interventional neurology options that have the potential to stop a stroke in progress and minimize the potential damage.

We offer mechanical embolectomy - an emergent procedure to remove a blood clot from a brain artery that is causing acute neurological deficits called a stroke. We have the technology and interventional capabilities to remove clots or blockages from blood vessels in the neck or brain, which are some of the most complex stroke cases.

Your care, completed.

What does comprehensive mean at our stroke center? It means providing you with a more aggressive treatment plan. It means getting you back to normal as physically possible. After a stroke, you’ll benefit from our acute rehabilitation service. There is a window of time in which your body will gain the most from rehabilitation therapy. We’ll use that time to the fullest because we’re in this together.

Team Stroke Care

At our center, you’ll work with a diverse team of passionate staff members that’ll see to your every phase of treatment. This group of doctors and nurses bring different specialists and skill sets together for a single purpose—to get you better. From the neurologists that will coordinate your treatment to the nurses in our Step Down Unit who will provide intermediate care between divisions of the hospital, you’ll benefit from each members expertise as they work to help you recover.

Would you recognize the signs and symptoms of a stroke?

“Quick intervention saved my life.”

“I suffered a stroke but was fortunate enough to be within minutes of [Delray], a Comprehensive Stroke Center, which also happens to be one of America’s top specialty care hospitals for stroke care,” says John Lisi, who was in South Florida on vacation with his wife at the time.

“Within 30 minutes of my arrival, the quick-thinking doctors had administered intravenous tPA, a clot-busting drug, into my system. I was awake during my entire treatment, and Dr. Mueller-Kronast explained that my carotid artery was blocked and that he was going to remove the blood clot in my brain. To my surprise, I was out of the hospital three days later and back on my vacation.”

Speak with a Navigator

Fill out a contact form and we’ll connect you to our Stroke Navigator.

Request a Navigator Callback

Symptoms of a Stroke

BE FAST is a good way to recognize the symptoms of a stroke, AND it’s a reminder to get help quickly. Every minute counts when it comes to having a better outcome and recovery from a stroke. Here’s how to recognize symptoms of a stroke for yourself or someone close to you:

B – Balance – Is there a loss of balance, coordination or trouble walking?
E – Eyes – Is it difficult to see in one or both eyes?

F – Face – When the person smiles, does one side of the face droop?
A – Arms – Does one arm drift down when the person raises both arms?
S – Speech – Is speech strange or slurred?
T – Time – Don’t wait to call 9-1-1 if you see any of the above signs.

Additional symptoms of a stroke include sudden:

Numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body – face, arm or leg
Confusion in speech – understanding or speaking
Extreme headache – unknown cause

What Is a Stroke?

A stroke, also known as a brain attack, occurs when blood flow to the brain is interrupted or blocked. When this happens, brain cells in the immediate area start to die because they do not get the oxygen and nutrients they need to function properly. Disabilities that can result from a stroke include:

Paralysis
Cognitive or memory deficits
Speech and emotional problems
Pain and numbness

Approximately 87 percent of strokes are ischemic, which means they occur when a clot blocks a blood vessel or artery in the brain. The remaining percentage of strokes is hemorrhagic. These strokes are caused by a blood vessel that breaks and bleeds into the brain. In either case, the faster blood flow is restored to the brain, the lower the risk of disability or death. So the sooner a person gets to a hospital, the quicker the diagnosis and ability to prevent long-term damage.

Stroke Treatment

There is no home remedy for a stroke. It’s important not to wait for symptoms to go away or worsen. Ischemic strokes can be treated with a clot-busting drug called tissue plasminogen activator, or t-PA. However, for the treatment to be effective, the stroke patient must get to a hospital within one hour, be evaluated and receive the drug within three hours of the onset of stroke symptoms (or up to 4.5 hours for certain eligible patients). A study by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke found that some patients receiving t-PA within the three-hour window were at least 30 percent more likely to recover from a stroke after 90 days.

Risk factors that can increase the chances of having a stroke include high blood pressure, heart disease, elevated cholesterol, diabetes, sedentary lifestyle and smoking. Knowing the symptoms of a stroke – and acting on them FAST – can save your life or the life of someone you care about.

Sources: https://www.strokeassociation.org/en/about-stroke/stroke-symptoms
https://www.ninds.nih.gov/Disorders/Patient-Caregiver-Education/Hope-Through-Research/Stroke-Hope-Through-Research/Questions-Answers-Stroke

Stroke Treatment

Meet Doris and Bill