It is possible that she is having the MERCI procedure done. It is a corkscrew that pulls out the clot. It works just like uncorking a wine bottle. The doc puts the device up through the groin and into the brain like an angiogram. If she is having this procedure, she is very lucky. There are not many docs that are trained to do this procedure and there is a small window of time that the procedure can be done after the onset of the stroke. Good luck to your sister in law and your family!
It is also possible that the Penumbra system was used to extract the clot. Here is an example of the system being used in the middle cerebral artery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1cVwqNePlew
How is your sister in law? did her srgery for the clot removal go well?
Where did she have this done, who was her doctor?
My daughter has a blood clot in her barain stem at the base of her brain, and thus far drs fromEmory, Grady and Northside in Atlanta have said thee is nothing they can do other than treat with anticoagulants.
I would so much appreciate learnig more fromyou about your sister in law and her prognosis.