7 Healthcast: Man paralyzed by stroke recovers

MIAMI (WHDH) -- A South Florida man who was left partially paralyzed is showing signs of recovery thanks to a new surgical device at Jackson Memorial Hospital.

Jorge Lazo said it was his wife who noticed he was having a stroke last week when his mouth appeared to stop moving.

Lazo's entire left side of his body was left paralyzed, and he stopped responding to medication. He was then rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital to have the blood clot in his brain removed with a new device.

"The device is called the SOLITAIRE device," said Dr. Dileep Yavagal.

The SOLITAIRE, approved by the FDA in March, is unique by how it grabs the blood clot.

"It opens up into a tube shape, and that allows me to engage this clot that is blocking the artery," said Dr. Yavagal.

The procedure has never been done before in South Florida, but that did not scare Lazo.

"It would have been worse to just leave the clot in his brain," said Lazo.

Dr. Yavagal said the procedure was a success.

"I was really thrilled that I can do the procedure so quickly and open up the artery, and typically we have to do more than one attempt to open up the artery, but this was the first attempt," he said.

Lazo is moving his left leg now and continues to recover movement in his arm and hopes to go home soon.

Dr. Yavagal said calling 911 immediately is important for stroke victims. The procedure is said to work best within eight hours after someone suffers a stroke.

"The veins performing and the results from the study make it very likely that this is going top be first-line treatment," said Dr. Yavagal.

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