A Springdale stroke victim's life is changed thanks to new technology at Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith.
Doctors say the patient couldn't speak and was paralyzed on the right side. But now, the patient is expected to make a full recovery thanks to a treatment called the Solitaire device, which was recently approved by the Federal Drug Administration.
"We also treat aneurysm,” said Dr. Clint Wood, an interventional neuroradiologist. “We used to require large surgery and craniotomy, and a lot of times, we can do that if they are un-ruptured, go in through the groin--treat the aneurysm in the middle of the brain. They go home next week with a Band-Aid and back in two to three days."
In the past stroke patients had to get care in Little Rock. But Dr. Wood is the first in western Arkansas to use the procedure.
Dr. Wood said the time saved by having the tools in Fort Smith can save patients from severe paralysis and even death.