Winchester Medical Center (WMC) is an Advanced Primary Stroke Center certified
by the Joint Commission. Patients who receive treatment at a Primary Stroke
Center have the best chance to survive a stroke and go on to have meaningful
recovery. Residents of the Shenandoah Valley and beyond benefit from Valley
Health’s advanced stroke care any time, day or night.
Rapid Identification of Stroke
From the time a patient arrives in any Valley Health hospital Emergency
Department, our stroke team can provide diagnosis and treatment within
minutes. The rapid, coordinated efforts of our team of physicians, nurses,
and technicians quickly identify patients with symptoms of stroke and
fast-track them to appropriate medical and surgical interventions.
Neurologists at Winchester Medical Center can even provide expert consultation
via state-of-the-art video conferencing technology known as telestroke,
24 hours a day, seven days a week. Nearly half of the patients who receive
treatment for stroke within 3 hours of symptom onset will experience little
and sometimes no disability from stroke.
Signs of Stroke/Brain Attack:
Sudden Weakness/numbness of the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side
of the body
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or understanding
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden severe headache with no known cause
If any of these signs occur, CALL
9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY. Getting treatment within 60 minutes may prevent disability, and increase
chances of survival. It may also facilitate the administration of the
clot busting drug or a procedure called mechanical thrombectomy which
utilizes various clot retrieval devices approved for stroke treatment
in some patients.
Know Your Risk Factors
Most strokes are caused by the build-up of plaque in the arteries carrying
blood to the brain. It is believed by many healthcare professionals that
80% of all strokes could be prevented. There are many things you can do
to reduce your risk of stroke. Know your risk factors for stroke, and
work with your physician who can guide you in making good choices to help
decrease your risk.
Uncontrollable risk factors for stroke:
Age, for every decade over 55 years of age stroke risk increases
Gender, men have a slightly higher stroke risk than women
Family history, people with a family history of stroke are at risk for
stroke themselves
Race, African Americans, and Hispanics have 2-3 times the stroke risk of
most other ethnic groups
Previous TIA (mini-stroke) or stroke, more than 1/3 of people who have
TIA’s will go on to have a stroke and if you already had a stroke
you are up to 10 times more likely to have another.
Controllable risk factors for stroke:
High blood pressure is the single most controllable risk factor for stroke.
Having high blood pressure increases stroke risk 4 to 6 times
Diabetes
Heart disease and high cholesterol
Atrial fibrillation is an irregular heartbeat that can increase stroke
risk 4 to 6 times
Smoking doubles your risk for stroke
Excess weight makes people more likely to have other stroke risk factors
Advanced Imaging
Quick access to advanced diagnostic
neuroimaging techniques, such as
computed tomography (CT) and
magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are essential to the stroke team in providing key information about the
type of stroke the damage it has caused. This information is critical
and helps define the course of treatment that is best for each patient.
Other sophisticated diagnostics tests, including
angiography, transcranial doppler (TCD),electroencephalogram (EEG),echocardiogram, and
carotid duplex are also important to assist the care team in prescribing ongoing treatment
to prevent a stroke from reoccurring in the future.
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation is an essential part of the treatment program for patients
who have had a stroke. Each patient is evaluated by trained experts in
physical, occupational, and speech therapy to determine an individualized
plan for recovery. Many patients experience weakness on one side of the
body, difficulty speaking or understanding speech, learning difficulties,
memory loss, vision changes, or emotional/behavioral changes as a result
of stroke. These physical or psychosocial deficits can range from mild
to severe depending on the size and location of the stroke in the brain.
Our team of rehab specialists will prescribe a course of treatment that
will help each patient return to the highest possible level of function
and independence. Rehabilitation is comprehensive, ranging from intense
therapy in the hospital to outpatient rehabilitation. To learn more about
the options available within Valley Health,
click here.
Stroke Research
Winchester Medical Center was one of the facilities involved in the original
ground-breaking clinical trial that determined the effectiveness of thrombolytic
therapy for the treatment of acute ischemic stroke in 1996. Today, thrombolytic
medications are still used to treat stroke and reduce permanent deficits
associated with stroke in a significant number of patients. Valley Health
and WMC continue to enroll in stroke-related clinical trials to help in
the fight to reduce the devastating disability associated with this disease
process. In many cases, patients who have received stroke care at our
facility are included in advanced or investigational stroke therapies
not always available at other stroke centers. Valley Health and Winchester
Medical Center continue to deliver the most up-to-date standard of stroke care.
Community Outreach
One of the primary goals of the Valley Health Stroke Service is to help
the members of our community prevent stroke before it occurs. On several
occasions throughout the year, staff members from our stroke center provide
educational and screening programs at little or no cost to the participant.
Education is focused on individual risk factors, lifestyle changes to
prevent stroke, early identification of symptoms of stroke, and immediately
calling 911 or emergency medical services as soon as signs and symptoms occur.
For more information about the Valley Health Stroke Service, please contact:
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