site.bta62 Hospitals in Bulgaria Provide Modern Stroke Treatment, Says Bulgarian Stroke Association Founder

Sixty-two hospitals in the country provide modern stroke treatment, Assoc. Prof. Rosen Kalpachki, founder of the Bulgarian Stroke Association, said at a BTA-hosted news conference here on Tuesday. Currently, 62 out of 140 neurology wards in Bulgaria treat strokes with thrombolysis; half of these make fewer than ten thrombolysis treatments a year and, in some hospitals, this treatment is not systematically applied.

Over the past ten years, the number of thrombolysis treatments at the Stroke Treatment Centre at Sofia's St. Anna Hospital has increased seven-fold, Kalpachki said. Thrombolysis is part of the modern treatment of strokes and is fast becoming the standard treatment in more hospitals around the country, he explained.

The top 10 hospitals for thrombolysis treatments are in Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Haskovo, Stara Zagora and Varna, said Kalpachki. There has also been an increase in the use of thrombectomy, though only 0.3% of ischaemic strokes are treated this way. The specialist expressed hope that the situation will improve next year.

There are six highly specialized stroke treatment centres in the country which will receive equipment, and he hopes that they will be fully equipped by next year. Some of the equipment has already been provided, but the centres will be fully equipped and operational by next year, he added.

"Modern stroke treatment is applied to only 4 out of every 100 patients, which is far too few," said Dr Filip Alexiev, Chair of the Bulgarian Stroke Association. He added that thrombolysis must be performed within four and a half hours of the stroke's onset. There are more than 40,000 registered cases of stroke in Bulgaria each year, and this number is not decreasing, which means that we have a responsibility to act. It is crucial to save the patient's brain from damage in time, said Dr Alexiev. He believes that it is necessary to train enough doctors by creating a stable training base.