The University of Kansas Health System is treating a total of 9 COVID patients today, 6 Friday. Other significant numbers:
- 6 with the active virus today, 2 Friday
- 0 in ICU, 0 Friday
- 0 on a ventilator, 0 Friday
Key points from today’s guests:
Morning Rounds – Update on Top Headlines
Dr. Alan Reeves, director, interventional neuroradiology, The University of Kansas Health System
- The University of Kansas Health System has received new gear that can better shield staff from radiation.
- It is critical for protection against the ionizing radiation. Interventional radiology is the field of minimally invasive surgery and procedures that's guided by this type of imaging.
- The lead systems the teams currently wear are divided into 2-3 pieces and they can weigh up to 25 pounds, sometimes even more. So a procedure or a long surgery in in the suite, means wearing heavy gear that can be burdensome.
- Radiation helps the team see everything they to need to see. But there are downsides to radiation that are very significant – so protection is essential.
- With the new shields, there is better protection from radiation than lead gowns. The shielding basically creates a box around the x-rays and prevents those x-rays from getting out into the room. That shielding helps protect the scatter from the patient and really protects everyone in the room much better than just wearing lead gowns.
Focus Topic
Lori Finnerty, stroke survivor
- Her husband recognized the signs of stroke with Lori after she got out of the shower and immediately called 911.
- He remembered the acronym BE FAST: Balance, Eyes, Face, Arm, Speech, Time, to help evaluate the situation.
- At the Health System, the stroke response team was notified in advance and was ready for Lori when she arrived.
- Lori was able to return to work nine days after her stroke. She had issues with misplacing certain words, but with speech therapy, she was able to get back to normal function.
- “If someone saves your life, make it worth it.”
Dr. Koji Ebersol, director, endovascular neurosurgery, The University of Kansas Health System
- The first thing that we do if you come in and we're suspecting a stroke is you have to have a CAT scan because a number of processes that happen in the brain can lead to the same set of symptoms.
- Lori’s CAT scan was nearly normal, which is what you're hoping to see because that means that the diagnosis is an ischemic stroke -- a blockage of a blood vessel and that the changes that the brain are experiencing are not permanent.
- We can see the exact obstruction when we inject our dye. So we need to get there with our instruments and open that blood vessel back up. The instrument that we used is like a very long soda straw and we try to suck out the obstruction.
- We apply an aspiration force which is essentially a vacuum pump and we're trying to suction the obstruction out and when it comes out, all of that blood flow is restored to that half of the brain.
- This technique of clot removal is called an advanced endovascular thrombectomy.
Jamie Johnson, speech language pathologist, The University of Kansas Health System
- Aphasia is when patients have involvement in the left side of the brain. For most of us that's where language is based, so Lori had difficulty getting words out and understanding words. So those are the areas that we really look at and evaluate when someone's had involvement in that area.
- One instance might also be for swallowing. Lori had a swallowing evaluation while she was an inpatient and she did well with that so she was able to eat and drink.
- Beyond just language we also look at memory, cognition on the other side of the brain and we also look at speech and how the speech sounds.
- The great thing about our brain neuroplasticity is we’re able to heal a lot of issues with comprehensive speech therapy.
- Our goal was to get Lori back to work with full function.
COVID Updates
Dr. Dana Hawkinson, medical director, infection prevention & control, The University of Kansas Health System
- The CDC is preparing for a winter of COVID, flu and RSV and hopes that this combination will not put extra stress on hospitals.
- There is low circulation now, but that tends to go up in colder months.
- Luckily, there are some products coming out that can help prevent hospitalizations with RSV.
- Vaccination continues to be our best weapon to help prevent and lower the risk of hospitalization.
Wednesday, July 26 at 8 a.m. is the next Open Mics with Dr. Stites. Your gut's nervous network is so complex, it's sometimes called "The Second Brain." So if COVID can lead to brain fog, we show how COVID can end up damaging your gut.
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