Reference Center for Stroke in Cuiabá bets on fast treatment

Inaugurated in August 2019, the Rede SOS AVC program in Cuiabá (MT) has already become a national reference in the treatment and care of victims of stroke. According to the program coordinator, Andrea Bianchi Linhares, approximately 1,100 people have already been assisted at the center.

The program coordinator says that the success is due to the fact that the team has specialized mainly in the early treatment of the patient, as soon as the first symptoms appear.

According to her, for a person with signs or symptoms of stroke, the time and quality of diagnosis are essential for the establishment of adequate treatment. The time limit for administering thrombolytics — a drug that acts to dissolve a thrombus or blood clot —, for example, is four and a half hours after the onset of symptoms.

“Therefore, having the correct data is essential for the effectiveness of the care. We need to know about the patient’s motor deficit and speech loss. We also need details about medication and their health condition.”

The reference center serves UPAs (Emergency Care Units), Polyclinics and Samu (Mobile Emergency Service) in the capital of Mato Grosso.

When he arrives at the site, the patient is hospitalized and undergoes a tomography to identify if there is any type of bleeding. “From the beginning, we have a maximum of seven hours to perform an effective mechanical thrombectomy on the patient”, says Linhares.

Mechanical thrombectomy is the technique used to unclog blood vessels affected by stroke. The doctor introduces a catheter, which goes to the point of occlusion responsible for the stroke. At its tip there is a stent, a tube capable of adhering to the thrombus and rescuing it, unblocking the blood vessel.

In 2020, the program provided 751 assistances — this year, 351. The team is made up of 14 people, including doctors, nurses and technicians, in addition to four residents. “Last year we spent a week at the Rio reference center in training. Everyone who enters has to go through this process”, says Linhares, regarding the training of professionals.

The coordinator says that the idea of ​​creating a center of reference for stroke came after she realized that in the capital of Mato Grosso the focus of management was only on cardiac problems. “Before, attention was paid to cardiology, but not to stroke. So we decided to propose a project to specialize in stroke care as well.”

According to the specialist, the network was inspired by a specialized center in Joinville (SC). “We got to know how the treatment was carried out in that city, which became a world reference in the area. They specialized during the 1990s”, she says.

The SOS AVC network operated at the São Benedito Municipal Hospital. Since March of this year, however, the center has moved to the Hospital Municipal de Cuiabá, as the old address now exclusively serves Covid-19 cases during the pandemic.

In the first year of the program, in 2019, around 140 people were assisted, of which 125 were saved — of these, more than 85 had the risk of permanent sequelae reduced by 92%.

Maria Regina Nascimento, 62, followed the treatment of her husband, Célio, 60, in July this year. “Since we arrived by ambulance, one team has already started the treatment and another has come to talk to me, reassuring me and asking for information”, she recalls.

“They sent him to a specialized room to carry out the tests. We were in the hospital for nine days because the doctor told us that he would only leave there after the reasons for the stroke were discovered”, he says.

For Maria Regina, emotional support and attention to what her husband was treated were essential for his recovery. “Then we returned in August for an appointment and we have another scheduled for December. The treatment we received gives us strength to face this type of situation,” he says.