People in central Kentucky now have access to a level of stroke treatment and prevention that was previously only available at large academic medical centers.

Medicare recently approved payment for a new stroke prevention treatment called “carotid stenting.” Dr. William Brooks, neurosurgeon, and Dr. Michael Jones, cardiologist, have performed over 200 such procedures at Central Baptist Hospital in Lexington. They are also the authors of two medical research publications reporting the results of these procedures. These two articles were key in the Medicare decision to approve the procedure for payment. The outcomes of the work by Drs. Brooks and Jones were cited multiple times in the national coverage decision published by Medicare in March 2005. Paula Gisler, RN, administrative director of the Neuroscience Center at Central Baptist Hospital, pointed out how rare it is for private community hospitals to offer this level of expertise. “Central Baptist is honored that these two physicians choose to perform these state-of-the-art procedures at our facility,” Gisler added.

Stroke can be caused when the primary arteries feeding the brain, the carotid arteries, become narrowed due to fatty deposits inside the vessel. In the past, interventional treatment involved surgery in the neck to unclog the vessels. When carotid stents are used, more invasive neck surgery is typically not needed. In carotid stenting, a small wire mesh tube is inserted into the carotid artery and expands against the blockage to open the carotid artery, thus increasing circulation. This minimally invasive procedure is performed in a cardiac cath lab. Minimally invasive approaches have been shown to save the patient time in the hospital and to decrease pain during the recovery period.