New technique removes blood clots in the brain, improving recovery from stroke

Johns Hopkins neurologists have developed a new technique that successfully dissolves blood clots in the brain. The minimally-invasive procedure allows for removing the potentially deadly clots without the risks associated with cutting into easily-damaged brain tissue. The technique increased the number of patients with intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), a form of stroke that is a bleed in the brain resulting in the formation of a clot, who could function independently six months after the treatment by 10 to 15 percent. “The last untreatable form of stroke may well have a treatment,” says Daniel F. Hanley, M.D., a professor of neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, who led the study. “If a larger study proves our findings correct, we may substantially reduce the burden of strokes for patients and their families by increasing the number of people who can be independent again after suffering a stroke.”