Stroke is an absolute emergency.
A stroke is the sudden and sudden cessation of blood circulation within the brain. In 85% of cases, the stroke is due to the obstruction of an artery by an atherosclerotic plaque or a blood clot: this is an ischemic stroke. In 15% of cases, the stroke is linked to the rupture of an artery: this is called a hemorrhagic stroke. In both cases, it is a absolute emergency. According to figures from the Ministry of Health, each year in France, 150,000 people suffer a stroke, more than 110,000 are hospitalized and 30,000 die.
Stroke manifests suddenly with deformity of the mouth, weakness on one side of the body and speech problems. Symptoms that should alert you immediately. If you witness or suffer from one of these signs, you must act quickly by calling 15. Every minute counts to optimize the chances of survival and functional recovery. But it’s more difficult when the stroke occurs at night…during sleep. We don’t always know but “it is possible to have a stroke when you sleep” confirms to us Dr Cyril Bègue, general practitioner and deputy secretary general of the College of General Medicine (CMG). “The person does not realize it because the stroke is painless. She, or one of her loved ones, then discovers it when she wakes up, in the middle of the night or the next morning. The problem is that it is very difficult to know when the stroke has occurred. However, it is essential to be able to date the stroke in order to intervene as early as possible and thus maximize the chances of survival and limit the risk of after-effects.” continues the doctor.
The treatment for a stroke is thrombolysis. It consists of injecting a powerful product to unblock the artery within a maximum of 4.5 hours after the first symptoms appear. After this time, administration of this treatment could worsen the situation and cause bleeding. “Brain MRI makes it possible to estimate the time of onset of the stroke. But unfortunately, once the time has passed, it is often too late”, deplores the general practitioner. Mechanical thrombectomy, which consists of directly seeking the clot using a catheter, can be carried out within six hours following the onset of symptoms. In certain cases, this period can be extended to 24 hours.