Emergent Large Vessel Occlusion (ELVO)

Acute stroke is caused by a blockage in an intracranial vessel and is leading cause of long term disability. Emergent Large Vessel Occlusion (ELVO) describes the sickest/neediest of the stroke patients and may be the most time-sensitive diagnosis in medicine. ELVO also simplifies communication across systems of care: we have stroke APP’s that meet all patients at the door and deliver patients through their entire continuum of care.

Mechanical thrombectomy is the standard of care for ELVO out to 24 hours from last seen well.

Diagnosis:

It is not enough to just recognize a stroke anymore, we use Computed Tomography Angiography (CTA) as the default on all suspected stroke patients regardless of degree of deficit.