A breakthrough stroke treatment is saving lives. If you can get it in time.
It's known as endovascular thrombectomy—or EVT—and in the decade-plus since it was developed it has evolved to be something of a miracle for people unlucky enough to suffer a stroke, but lucky enough to be able to access it quickly. If performed in time it can turn a potentially deadly or life-altering stroke to something that can be rehabbed in a couple of weeks.
But it's an incredibly complex procedure, there aren't expert teams able to handle it everywhere, and as we all know: when it comes to strokes, time is precious. So how does a complicated medical intervention get from a lifesaving specialty to globally available? And how many lives could be saved if it does?
GUEST: Eva Holland, writing in The New York Times Magazine
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