Stroke Robot Saves Lowman

Nancy Lowman didn’t need a miracle. She just needed the right diagnosis and she needed it quick. Lowman, a 59-year-old Catawba Valley Medical Center (CVMC) employee had no obvious stroke risk factors, but one morning in February 2014, the vision in her left eye became completely yellow, then she was unable to open the eye, and a sharp pain began to radiate from her left temple down her neck. She became dizzy, nauseous and began vomiting.

Upon arriving at CVMC, a designated Primary Stroke Center, Lowman was connected to Webster, a rolling robot topped by a video monitor, for a real-time consultation with stroke experts at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center’s (WFUBMC) Department of Neurology in Winston-Salem, NC. After evaluating Lowman’s physical symptoms, reviewing her brain scans and asking her a series of questions, CVMC physicians collaborated with the Wake Forest team and determined she was having a right hemisphere ischemic stroke.

Lowman was a candidate for a clot-busting medication called Tissue Plasminogen Activator (t-PA). According to the American Stroke Association, t-PA is the only Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved treatment for ischemic strokes and works by dissolving the clot and improving blood flow to the part of the brain being deprived of blood flow. However, a key factor to its success is that it must be administered within three hours upon onset of stroke symptoms.

“Because having a stroke is a very time sensitive situation, I was told that if I had waited 30 minutes more, my arm would have been paralyzed and the damage could have been permanent, requiring long-term rehabilitation or a disability,” said Lowman.

While many stroke victims don’t get to a hospital in time for t-PA treatment, Lowman was fortunate and has since made a full recovery. She regained all functionality within 48 hours of arriving at CVMC and returned to work in its Materials Management Department less than two weeks after the stroke.

“By giving care remotely, patients and the CVMC stroke team don’t lose a single minute of valuable time,” said Angela Whisenant, RN, BSN, Stroke Program Coordinator. “As a designated Primary Stroke Center, our patients receive care in advanced stroke units equipped with the latest medical technology.”

Fewer than 20% of major US hospitals are stroke certified. CVMC has been recognized for its exceptional efforts to foster better outcomes by reducing death and disability caused by strokes.

Categories