By Guest Columnists JONATHAN A. GROSSBERG, MD, MBA, FAANS and C. MICHAEL CAWLEY, MD, FAANS on behalf of the Society of NeuroInterventional Surgery (SNIS). Both perform mechanical thrombectomy procedures at Emory University Hospital and Grady Memorial Hospital and are members of SNIS, supporting its Get Ahead of Stroke campaign to improve systems of care.

As most fellow Georgians are aware, our state has the dubious geographic distinction of being the “belt buckle” of America’s “Stroke Belt.” This is an area of the southeastern United States where stroke death rates are approximately 30 percent higher than in the rest of the nation.

According to the Georgia Department of Public Health, our state had the eighth-highest stroke death rate in the U.S. in 2019. Alarmingly, 19 percent of those stroke deaths occurred in people younger than 65. The research also revealed tremendous disparities in stroke outcomes, with an age-adjusted stroke death rate among Black residents that is 33 percent higher than for White residents in Georgia.

Dr. Michael Cawley is a Professor at the Emory University School of Medicine and Director of the Emory MBNA Stroke Center. 

Nationwide, strokes cost the United States nearly $53 billion each year, primarily due to rehabilitation and long-term care costs when stroke survivors are no longer functionally independent. These costs also factor in the “butterfly effect” when family members of stroke survivors need to leave the workforce to become full-time caregivers to their loved ones. Between 15 and 30 percent of stroke survivors remain paralyzed for the rest of their lives. The best outcome will ensure the patient will go on to live a longer, productive life as opposed to depending on around-the-clock care for the rest of their life.

The reason a stroke has such a devastating impact is that it is often the result of a blood clot blocking a brain artery, which deprives the brain of oxygen and can kill up to two million…

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