Quick stroke intervention at Rambam saves man for wedding

34-year-old Hadera resident who suffered a stroke will be able to walk to his wedding canopy in a few weeks, after successful treatment at Rambam Medical Center.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
A 34-year-old Hadera resident who suffered a stroke will be able to walk to his wedding canopy in a few weeks, after successful treatment at Rambam Medical Center.
Yaniv Ginossar and his fiancee Liron were supposed to have been busy with wedding invitations and seating arrangements, but a sudden ischemic stroke, in which a clot plugged a major artery in his brain, felled him three weeks ago.
When he had difficulty speaking and half of his body seemed paralyzed, Liron thought he was playing a joke on her. But quickly she realized it was the real thing and rushed him to Rambam, one of only four Israeli hospitals that offer brain catheterization to clean out brain clots.
Dr. Ya’acov Amsalem, head of interventional neuroradiology at the Haifa hospital, sent him to imaging scans that showed where the clot was. It was in a major artery in the left hemisphere that controls functioning of the right side of the body, speech and comprehension.
Within four hours of his initial symptoms, he underwent treatment that melted the clot, removed it and renewed blood flow to the brain. He recovered completely and was discharged.
Amsalem said an ischemic stroke in a man so young is very rare; most victims are over 60.
Yaniv expressed his gratitude to the hospital staff and to his fiancee, who wasted no time in getting him to the hospital.
She said it was “the most frightening experience” in her life, and that it was “terrible to see a person you love lie there, without being able to help him.”
They are somewhat slowing down their wedding preparations but have sent an invitation to the Rambam neuroradiologist.