Chennai :

A chronic diabetic, smoker and an alcoholic, 47-year-old Gowthi was recently admitted to Stanley Hospital with difficulty in moving his limbs.

“For the past three months, his movement was slow and his speech was slurred. We assumed it was a stroke but a quick scan revealed that the blood vessels to his head and neck had a 100% blockage,” said Dr N Sridharan, head of vascular surgery.

The patient was referred to the department as doctors suspected that the blood supply to his brain was low.

Dr Sridharan explained that Gowthi had managed with supply from vessels responsible for blood flow to upper limbs.

Doctors had to perform an open surgery to re-vascularise vessels that supplied blood to head and neck.

“We wanted to ensure that we did not upset the blood flow to the brain. Further, we also placed a graft to ensure smooth blood flow to the head and neck,” said the surgeon. He added that the patient recovered well without any episode of cerebral stroke.

source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / Home> City> Chennai / TNN / June 23rd, 2015