‘A very simple idea’ might make a big difference for stroke patients

Researchers at London Health Sciences Centre say they've found a new way to identify blood clots responsible for strokes.

Dr. Luciano Sposato admits that a simple change in procedure may have a significant impact on stroke patients.

His research team at London Health Sciences Centre and Western University’s Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry has found a new way to identify blood clots responsible for strokes.

When a stroke patient arrives at the hospital, time is of the utmost critical. Sposato states a CT scan of the brain is often underway within 10 minutes to determine underlying causes.

Frequently a cause is never found, making it difficult to predict future strokes.

In 2023, researchers began to wonder if expanding scans further down the body might make a difference.

“We always suspected that clots came from the heart. So, we said, why don’t we just go a little bit lower with the acquisition of the images and see if the clots were there?” said Sposato.

It turned out they often were.

An eight-month study found that clots were hiding in the hearts of a large number of patients.

“We know exactly like that we can increase the detection of parts of the heart by 500%, and we would only need to scan 14 patients to find one clot. So, it is a very high-yield type of detection study,” said Sposato.

While the implantation phase of the study will soon begin, policies will take time to change.

Sposato told CTV News the research has attracted interest from the US, Europe and Asia.

He is hopeful that, in time, it will make a significant difference towards preventing future medical events.

“By preventing future strokes, people will not be as disabled as they might have been, and we can also prevent dementia by reducing brain damage, that 10 years later could cause dementia in these patients as well,” Sposato said.