Stroke Care in Tampa

A stroke (also called a cerebrovascular accident, or CVA), happens when a blood vessel leading to the brain becomes blocked, cutting off the brain’s supply of oxygen and nutrients.

Most importantly, a stroke is a medical emergency. Call 911 right away if you suspect a stroke in yourself or a loved one.

There are two main types of stroke, including:

• Ischemic stroke: This is the most common type, and happens when an artery in the neck or brain becomes blocked, often from a blood clot. This blockage prevents blood and oxygen from flowing to the brain, resulting in brain cell death.
• Hemorrhagic stroke: This type occurs when a blood vessel in the brain breaks, bleeding into the brain tissue. This also leads to the death of brain cells.

A transient ischemic stroke, also called a “mini-stroke,” is a short episode of stroke symptoms that does not cause permanent damage but can lead to a serious stroke in the future.

When you understand stroke symptoms, you can be better prepared and empowered to recognize them and call 911 right away.

A stroke can include the sudden onset of:

• Loss of balance or coordination, difficulty walking and dizziness
• Difficulty seeing, double vision or loss of vision
• Numbness or weakness in the face, arms or legs (particularly on one side of the body)
• Difficulty speaking or understanding language
• Severe headache with no known cause (sometimes called a “thunderclap” headache)

When a stroke happens, time is critical. If you suspect a stroke, call 911 right away — don’t wait, and don’t drive yourself to the ER. Seek medical attention immediately, even if the symptoms appear to go away.

Use the acronym BEFAST to help identify a stroke and get immediate medical care. This acronym stands for:

• Balance: loss of balance
• Eyes: loss of vision in one or both eyes
• Face: facial drooping
• Arm/leg: weakness in the arm or leg
• Speech: difficulty speaking
• Time: call 911 right away (don’t wait)

Stroke has many risk factors that are tied to lifestyle, meaning that you can help prevent a stroke through making healthy lifestyle changes. Stroke risk factors include:

• High blood pressure (the top controllable risk factor)
• Smoking
• Atrial fibrillation, or AFib
• High cholesterol
• Diabetes
• Obesity
• Carotid artery disease

If you know you have risk factors like these, talk with your primary care provider (or cardiologist).

When a stroke happens, the response time is key. You need an experienced and highly coordinated team of experts acting quickly and decisively to deliver your care.

Our stroke team is trained to evaluate for stroke symptoms quickly and treat the stroke rapidly with a clot-busting medication called a tissue plasminogen activator (tPA). We also offer a lifesaving procedure, called a mechanical thrombectomy, that can treat a severe stroke.

Your stroke treatment plan may also include:

• Blood thinners
• Carotid artery angioplasty
• Minimally invasive endovascular procedure
• Neuroendovascular surgery (NES) for a more minimally invasive procedure
• Surgical blood clot removal or clipping

AdventHealth Tampa is designated as a Comprehensive Stroke Center. Our emergency stroke team provides the only 24/7 interventional neuroradiology coverage in Central Florida.

We are also honored to have received the Stroke Gold Plus Target Honor Roll Elite Plus, the highest award offered by the American Heart Association and the American Stroke Association.

Recovering from a stroke requires a strong support system. Our teams take a multidisciplinary, whole-person approach to your care that works with you at every step of your journey: prevention, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation.

If you smoke, have heart disease, or have a family history of stroke, we’ll make sure to be proactive, performing regular screenings and putting you on a path of prevention. This might include medications, guidance and positive lifestyle changes.

After we treat the immediate stroke, our neurology and rehabilitation professionals will work together to help you rediscover your strength, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We combine support groups, physical therapy, speech and language therapy, and more to make sure you have the care you need.