A woman had been dizzy for 5 years and thought it was menopause, but it turned out that the blood in her head was "stolen"!

The blood in the brain can actually be "stolen"? Ms. Li, who lives in Yueyang, Hunan, encountered such a strange thing. Not only was the blood pressure in her right hand 40mmHg higher than that in her left hand, her left hand was weak, she also often had black vision and almost fell down. Experts from the Cerebrovascular Disease Center of the Yuelushan Branch of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital used a small 3cm stent to successfully solve the "blood stealing criminal". The patient recovered and was discharged from the hospital on March 26.

▲Deputy Chief Physician Ren Xiang’s team performed interventional surgery on the patient.

Ms. Li, 61, began to experience weakness in her left hand and occasional dizziness in 2020, and thought it was due to fatigue and menopause. As the dizziness and blacking out of her eyes became more and more severe, she was at risk of falling at any time, which attracted her attention. On March 16, 2025, she went to the local hospital for a check-up and found that the blood pressure in her right hand was 40 mmHg higher than that in her left hand. The results of the vascular ultrasound showed "left subclavian artery steal syndrome", and she was subsequently transferred to the Cerebrovascular Disease Center of Yuelu Mountain Campus of Hunan Provincial People's Hospital.

"I've never heard of this disease. Can it be cured?" Facing the doubts and anxiety of Ms. Li and her family, Deputy Chief Physician Ren Xiang patiently explained: The blood vessels of the human body are like water pipes, transporting oxygen and nutrients to various organs. When blood vessels are narrowed, symptoms such as weakness due to ischemia of the corresponding limbs will appear. The blood that originally flowed to the brain will be "stolen" to compensate for the blood supply to the limbs, thus causing ischemia in the brain, dizziness, blurred vision and other phenomena.

▲Preoperative angiography showed severe stenosis of the left subclavian artery (in the red circle).

Based on Ms. Li's medical condition and relevant examination results, the team of physicians led by Xiang Bin, director of the Cerebrovascular Disease Center, and Ren Xiang, deputy chief physician, developed a minimally invasive interventional surgery plan for her while using medication to regulate blood lipids and prevent thrombosis. On March 23, they performed a "left subclavian artery balloon angioplasty and stent implantation" on her to open the narrowed blood vessels and restore blood flow to the brain.

▲Postoperative angiography showed: blood flow in the subclavian artery was restored (in the red circle).

The operation took less than 2 hours to complete successfully. There was almost no bleeding during the operation, leaving only a 5mm needle hole. There was almost no difference in blood pressure between the two sides after the operation, and symptoms such as dizziness also improved significantly. After the careful care of the medical team, Ms. Li was discharged smoothly on March 26 and returned to normal life.

Director Xiang Bin reminded that people who smoke for a long time, have high blood pressure, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and a family history of atherosclerosis are at high risk of subclavian steal syndrome and need to check the blood pressure of both hands regularly. If the difference is greater than 20 mmHg; or if one side is weakened when touching the radial artery pulsation of both hands, they should go to the hospital for further examination and treatment in time to avoid permanent nerve damage or even life-threatening due to severe lack of blood supply to the brain.

Hunan Medical Chat Special Author: Zhang Junwei and Liang Shuaibing from Hunan Provincial People's Hospital

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(Edited by YT)