Nora Olarte felt like her head was going to explode. When her body became numb, and she was fearful of having a stroke, she was rushed to Aventura Hospital's emergency room

Internationally recognized neurosurgeon Santiago Figuereo, M.D., who takes Emergency Department on-call duty at Aventura Hospital, knew he had to act quickly. Dr. Figuereo was notified immediately and was even able to view Olarte's MRI scan from his computer at home. Upon review of the scan, Dr. Figuereo diagnosed a bleeding in Olarte's brain and had her prepped for emergency surgery to remove the blood clot from her brain.

"With emergencies involving the brain and spine - such as strokes or aneurysms it is essential that we respond quickly," said Dr. Figuereo. "Response time can mark the difference when cutting the risk of death or permanent disability. Many stroke patients don't get the chance to fully recover because they are not treated quickly enough."

Olarte had a rupture of a blood vessel in her brain, which lead to a brain bleed. If the bleeding was not caught and treated in time, she would have been permanently paralyzed. Many times bleeders are not caught in time, which increases the risk of death.

Dr. Figuereo is specially trained to quickly diagnose and treat patients who are brought to the Emergency Department where he performs unique, state-of-the-art minimally invasive surgeries of spine and brain disorders not currently available in South Florida.

"I was having a stroke, and half of my body was paralyzed," said Olarte. "If it weren't for the quick response time of Dr. Figuereo, I could have been permanently paralyzed."

Olarte is now completely recovered and living a normal life.

Dr. Figuereo is one of the few Functional Neurosurgery fellowship-trained neurosurgeons in Florida. He served as standing faculty and assistant professor in the Department of Neurosurgery at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and neurosurgery division chief at the Philadelphia Veterans Administration Medical Center. With the launching of Miami Neurological Institute in January 2009, Dr. Figuereo is now on staff at several South Florida hospitals.

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Debbie Liebross
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