Photo Gallery | Lightweights lift SJO in home win over Clinton

ST. JOSEPH - The St. Joseph-Ogden wrestling squad won seven out of the nine lightest weight classes on the way to a 56-36 win last night over Clinton. Here are photos from last night's action-packed meet against the Maroons.

Spartan's Hunter Ketchum rolls Clinton's Aric Oliver to his back in their 182-pound match on Thursday in the Main Gym at St. Joseph-Ogden High School. Ketchum, competing in second season, picked up his first varsity win with pin at 2:55.

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Fans cheer after St. Joseph-Ogden 182-pounder Hunter Ketchum's win over Clinton's Aric Oliver. Ketchum's victory put the first six point on SJO's side of the scoreboard.

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SJO's Peyton Sarver tries to drive Kael Morlock face down into the mat during their 195-pound match. Sarver battled valiantly for nearly six minutes before suffering a loss by pin with 8 seconds left on the clock. Fall 5:52

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Peyton Sarver overpowers Clinton's Kael Morlock during second period action in their 195-pound match. Sarver is one for four seniors on this year's Spartan wrestling team.

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Wrestling at 285-pounds, SJO wrestler Quincy Jones looks for a shot in on Clinton's Dawson Thayer. Thayer went on to beat the Spartan in the first period by pin.

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Clinton's Dawson Thayer wrestles Spartans' Quincy Jones.

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Jackson Walsh shoots in for a takedown on Clinton's Jeremiah Ortiz during the 106-pound match. Walsh prevailed with pin at 4:47. Earlier in the triangle meet on Thursday, Walsh suffered defeat by El Paso-Gridley's Nolan Whitman by way of a first period pin.

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With the crowd cheering behind him, 106-pound wrestler Jackson Walsh from SJO celebrates his win over Clinton's Jeremiah Ortiz. Walsh, a sophomore

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St. Joseph-Ogden's Emmitt Holt dumps Clinton's Gabe Walker to the mat during their 120-pound bout. Holt, the only junior this year's squad, ran up the match score up to a 20-3 tech fall and tallied his second win of the day. Earlier in SJO's first match of the evening, Holt defeated El Paso-Gridley's Caleb Graham with a second period pin.

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Spartans' Holden Brazelton somersaults out of a takedown attempt by Clinton's Cayden Poole in their 132-pound match. Brazelton, who finished 6th at last year's state finals as a 120-pound freshman, destroyed Poole by major decision, 11-2.

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SJO's Holden Brazelton tries force Clinton's Cayden Poole out of a neck bridge in their 132-pound match. Brazelton, who finished 6th at last year's state finals as a 120-pound freshman, destroyed Poole by major decision, 11-2.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Student fans and members of the St. Joseph-Ogden wrestling team cheer for Holden Brazelton at the end of the second period during his match against Clinton's Cayden Poole.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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Holden Brazelton scores a takedown in his 132-pound match against Clinton's Cayden Poole.

Media/Clark Brooks

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Representing SJO in the 138-pound weight class against Clinton, Landen Butts was all business in his match against Maroons' Sable Taylor. Butts crafted a 16-0 techinical fall to win the bout. Earlier in the evening, the sophomore lost to El Paso-Gridley's Tyler Roth by pin. Tech Fall 16-0

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After earning back points, Spartans' Coy Hayes looks for an attack on Clinton's Russel Stamp. Hayes won the 152-pound match in the second period by pin.

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SJO wrestler Maddie Wells tries score points on Clinton's Ariana Humes during their 120-pound match. Wells, a freshman, earned six points for the Spartans after pinning Humes at 2:48.

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Maddie Wells is declared winner after pinning Clinton sophomore Ariana Humes.

PhotoNews Media/Clark Brooks

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St. Joseph-Ogden wrestler nearly pins a Clinton grappler during the 120-pound exhibition match.

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Emergency assessment needed even when stroke symptoms disappear

by American Heart Association

Dallas - Stroke symptoms that disappear in under an hour, known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), need emergency assessment to help prevent a full-blown stroke, according to a new American Heart Association scientific statement published today in the Association’s journal Stroke. The statement offers a standardized approach to evaluating people with suspected TIA, with guidance specifically for hospitals in rural areas that may not have access to advanced imaging or an on-site neurologist.

Photo courtesy American Heart Assoc.

TIA is a temporary blockage of blood flow to the brain. Each year, about 240,000 people in the U.S. experience a TIA, although this estimate may represent underreporting of TIA because symptoms tend to go away within an hour. While the TIA itself doesn’t cause permanent damage, nearly 1 in 5 of those who have a TIA will have a full-blown stroke within three months after the TIA, almost half of which will happen within two days. For this reason, a TIA is more accurately described as a warning stroke rather than a “mini-stroke,” as it’s often called.

TIA symptoms are the same as stroke symptoms, only temporary. They begin suddenly and may have any or all of these characteristics:

• Symptoms begin strong then fade;
• Symptoms typically last less than an hour;
• Facial droop;
• Weakness on one side of the body;
• Numbness on one side of the body;
• Trouble finding the right words/slurred speech; or
• Dizziness, vision loss or trouble walking.

The F.A.S.T. acronym for stroke symptoms can be used to identify a TIA: F ― Face drooping or numbness; A ― Arm weakness; S ― Speech difficulty; T ― Time to call 9-1-1, even if the symptoms go away.

“Confidently diagnosing a TIA is difficult since most patients are back to normal function by the time they arrive at the emergency room,” said Hardik P. Amin, M.D., chair of the scientific statement writing committee and associate professor of neurology and medical stroke director at Yale New Haven Hospital, St. Raphael Campus in New Haven, Connecticut. “There also is variability across the country in the workup that TIA patients may receive. This may be due to geographic factors, limited resources at health care centers or varying levels of comfort and experience among medical professionals.”

For example, Amin said, “Someone with a TIA who goes to an emergency room with limited resources may not get the same evaluation that they would at a certified stroke center. This statement was written with those emergency room physicians or internists in mind – professionals in resource-limited areas who may not have immediate access to a vascular neurologist and must make challenging evaluation and treatment decisions.”

The statement also includes guidance to help health care professionals tell the difference between a TIA and a “TIA mimic” – a condition that shares some signs with TIA but is due to other medical conditions such as low blood sugar, a seizure or a migraine. Symptoms of a TIA mimic tend to spread to other parts of the body and build in intensity over time.

Who is at risk for a TIA?

People with cardiovascular risk factors, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol and smoking, are at high risk for stroke and TIA. Other conditions that increase risk of a TIA include peripheral artery disease, atrial fibrillation, obstructive sleep apnea and coronary artery disease. In addition, a person who has had a prior stroke is at high risk for TIA.

Which tests come first once in the emergency room?

Blood work should be completed in the emergency department to rule out other conditions

After assessing for symptoms and medical history, imaging of the blood vessels in the head and neck is an important first assessment. A non-contrast head CT should be done initially in the emergency department to rule out intracerebral hemorrhage and TIA mimics. CT angiography may be done as well to look for signs of narrowing in the arteries leading to the brain. Nearly half of people with TIA symptoms have narrowing of the large arteries that lead to the brain.

A magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) scan is the preferred way to rule out brain injury (i.e., a stroke), ideally done within 24 hours of when symptoms began. About 40% of patients presenting in the ER with TIA symptoms will actually be diagnosed with a  stroke based on MRI results. Some emergency rooms may not have access to an MRI scanner, and they may admit the patient to the hospital for MRI or transfer them to a center with rapid access to one.

Blood work should be completed in the emergency department to rule out other conditions that may cause TIA-like symptoms, such as low blood sugar or infection, and to check for cardiovascular risk factors like diabetes and high cholesterol.

Once TIA is diagnosed, a cardiac work-up is advised due to the potential for heart-related factors to cause a TIA. Ideally, this assessment is done in the emergency department, however, it could be coordinated as a follow-up visit with the appropriate specialist, preferably within a week of having a TIA. An electrocardiogram to assess heart rhythm is suggested to screen for atrial fibrillation, which is detected in up to 7% of people with a stroke or TIA. The American Heart Association recommends that long-term heart monitoring within six months of a TIA is reasonable if the initial evaluation suggests a heart rhythm-related issue as the cause of a TIA or stroke.

Early neurology consultation, either in-person or via telemedicine, is associated with lower death rates after a TIA. If consultation isn’t possible during the emergency visit, the statement suggests following up with a neurologist ideally within 48 hours but not longer than one week after a TIA, given the high risk of stroke in the days after a TIA. The statement cites research that about 43% of people who had an ischemic stroke (caused by a blood clot) had a TIA within the week before their stroke.

Assessing stroke risk after TIA

A rapid way to assess a patient’s risk of future stroke after TIA is the 7-point ABCD2 score, which stratifies patients into low, medium and high risk based on Age, Blood pressure, Clinical features (symptoms), Duration of symptoms (less than or greater than 60 minutes) and Diabetes. A score of 0-3 indicates low risk, 4-5 is moderate risk and 6-7 is high risk. Patients with moderate to high ABCD2 scores may be considered for hospitalization.

Collaboration among emergency room professionals, neurologists and primary care professionals is critical to ensure the patient receives a comprehensive evaluation and a well-communicated outpatient plan for future stroke prevention at discharge.

“Incorporating these steps for people with suspected TIA may help identify which patients would benefit from hospital admission, versus those who might be safely discharged from the emergency room with close follow-up,” Amin said. “This guidance empowers physicians at both rural and urban academic settings with information to help reduce the risk of future stroke.”