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Temple Docs Part Of International Study Testing New Way To Treat Stroke Causing Blood Clots

By Lynne Adkins

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – Doctors at Temple University Hospital are part of an international study to test a new way to treat blood clots causing strokes.

Stroke is the fourth leading cause of death in this country and the sooner a patient is treated, the less brain damage will occur.

Dr. Guillermo Linares, director of Neuro-Interventional Services says Temple Hospital is testing a new procedure.

"The stentriever is a stent just like the ones used to treat the heart arteries, but it is retrievable so that it does not have to remain in inside the artery of the brain, they work in opening the artery in the brain in about 90-percent of cases."

Currently, the only way to break up a stroke causing blood clot is with the drug tPA, but that works in only a quarter of the cases and not everyone can have the medication.

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