A Conversation with Mandy J. Binning, M.D., FAANS

Dr. Mandy Binning is a highly experienced, fellowship-trained, comprehensive vascular neurosurgeon and the Medical Director of Crozer Health’s Joint Commission designated Comprehensive Stroke Program. She is Chief of Vascular Neurosurgery and Director of Stroke Programs for Global Neurosciences Institute and is also Associate Professor at Drexel University College of Medicine. Dr. Binning specializes in both minimally invasive, endovascular/cerebrovascular neurosurgery as well as open vascular microsurgery, making her one of a select number of neurosurgeons in the country trained in both types of vascular neurosurgery. She sees patients at Crozer-Chester Medical Center, Crozer Brinton Lake, and Crozer Health at Broomall.

What are the signs and symptoms of a stroke?

Stroke has a very broad range of symptoms and signs. The most common ones would be numbness, tingling or weakness on one side of the body, trouble speaking, facial droop, and difficulty seeing. More subtle signs of stroke could be a sudden and severe headache, dizziness, or imbalance.

How prevalent are strokes?

Between 750,000 and one million strokes occur in the U.S. per year, and that number is just going up because the population is aging. We are also seeing strokes in younger people.

What should you do if you think you or a loved one is experiencing a stroke?

The most important thing to do is call 911 immediately and alert them that you or someone else is having a stroke. Let them know the time the symptoms started and any other relevant medical information, including any medication the patient is taking. It’s very important not to delay calling 911 if you have these symptoms because most of our treatments are time-sensitive. It doesn’t help to sleep it off or wait an hour to see if you feel better because by then, it might be too late to do anything.

Crozer-Chester Medical Center was recently designated a Comprehensive Stroke Center by the Joint Commission. What does that mean?

This prestigious designation means Crozer-Chester Medical Center has the infrastructure, team, training, and expertise required to treat the most complex stroke cases and is equipped to provide the highest quality stroke care. The stroke program complies with more than 40 related certification standards and 160 elements of performance including a combination of advanced operating room technology, 24/7 availability of comprehensively trained neurosurgeons, and a specially trained stroke-focused team. These components allow for faster diagnosis and treatment, resulting in better patient outcomes and a lower risk of complications.

Can you describe the stroke care innovation at Crozer-Chester Medical Center?

The standard of care for patients having acute stroke symptoms is the delivery of medicine known as IV tPA. It is a clot-busting drug that is typically given within 4 ½ hours of the onset of stroke symptoms in certain patients. Our team is using the latest research to extend this timeframe. In select cases, we’re giving tPA up to nine hours from onset. We’re doing this through our Neurological Emergency Department, which is one of the first of its kind. Patients with neurological emergencies are triaged to a special area of the emergency department with specially trained Global Neurosciences Institute physicians and the most forward-thinking technology.

What makes the team uniquely qualified to treat strokes?

Crozer Health’s Crozer-Chester Medical Center, in partnership with Global Neurosciences Institute, is home to an extraordinarily innovative team of highly skilled, nationally recognized neurosurgeons, subspecialty neurologists, neuro-pharmacists, neurological ED physicians, neuroscience researchers, and specialty trained physician assistants and nurses. We are committed to providing collaborative care that’s 100 percent patient-centered and based on the most advanced research and technologies.  We also offer the region’s first and only Neurologic Emergency Department in addition to a dedicated neurologic ICU and multidisciplinary team.

Our vascular neurosurgeons are nationally recognized for treating patients with a variety of minimally invasive treatments and state-of-the-art techniques. We don’t just rely on the latest research; we are directly involved in the latest research. We are helping to develop the protocols that will be the standard of care in the future.