Dedicated neurosurgeon Michael Molleston, with more than three decades of medical experience, including special training in such areas as brain aneurysms, serves as neurosurgeon at TexomaCare Neurosurgery in Texas. In this role, Michael Molleston keeps neurosurgery services up-to-date and oversees neurosurgery care through the multi-specialty clinic’s accredited trauma and stroke programs.
Individuals experience a stroke when blood supply to the brain is compromised. This usually happens because a blood vessel in the brain ruptures or blood supply to the brain is blocked. In both scenarios, cells in the brain start dying because they are not receiving enough oxygen. As a result, cognitive functions are negatively affected, including memory, motor control, and language.
Brain aneurysms also involve the blockage of a blood vessel, but this blockage causes the vessel to expand and appear as a bulge higher up in the brain. The brain becomes damaged when this bulge bursts and releases blood into the brain. Although aneurysms are more deadly than strokes, they are less common and often form within the subarachnoid space, the area between the tissue separating the brain from the skull and the brain itself.
Both issues are associated with a headache; however, headaches caused by stroke are usually sudden and extremely intense. Stroke symptoms also include numbness on one side of the body or face, weakness in the extremities, vision problems, dizziness, and issues with balance.
Many of these symptoms are also associated with aneurysms, such as weakness, numbness, and vision problems. However, aneurysms are also linked to vomiting, memory issues, and upset stomach. These symptoms normally do not appear unless the aneurysm ruptures.
Based in Denison, Texas, Dr. Michael Molleston provides patient-centered neurosurgical care. Among the patients Dr. Michael Molleston treats are those who have experienced ischemic stroke, which stands as the most common type of stroke and is caused by artery blockage.
With brain oxygen deprivation a major issue, mild ischemic stroke can be treated within a three hour window using t-PA, a clot-busting medication that dissolves the source of the blockage. In cases where treatment is not administered in time, or when more severe stroke occurs, surgical options may be considered in ensuring proper clot removal and restoration of normal blood flow throughout the brain. These include mechanical embolectomy, a minimally invasive approach that involves the threading of a micro catheter up an artery to the source of the blockage.
Symptoms of ischemic stroke include sudden weakness or numbness affecting the leg, arm, or face. This can be particularly serious when it is experienced on a single side of the body. In addition, a person may experience sudden trouble speaking, confusion, and difficulty seeing through one or both eyes.
Michael Molleston serves as a neurosurgeon at TexomaCare Neurosurgery, located in Denison, Texas. He graduated with a BA from Washington University with a double major in English and biology and received his MD from Washington University’s School of Medicine. Michael Molleston also completed a fellowship in pediatric neurosurgery at Texas Children’s Hospital in 1994.
Pediatric neurosurgery is a medical discipline that deals with the diagnosis, evaluation, and treatment of the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous system of children. Texas Children’s Hospital ranks fourth in US News & World Report’s ranking of the best pediatric neurology and neurosurgery programs in the country. The hospital continually leads the field by using the latest techniques to treat children with neurological diseases. For instance, Texas Children’s Hospital was the first to employ MRI-guided thermal imaging in order to guide doctors as they used lasers to eliminate brain lesions that caused epilepsy and seizures.
The pediatric neurosurgery unit at Texas Children’s Hospital stands as one of the largest and most experienced in the country. The department performs over 950 operations each year to treat a variety of neurosurgical disorders. In part due to these reasons, the hospital is able to offer a high-quality fellowship experience in pediatric neurosurgery that allows doctors to gain unparalleled training in the field.
