The Scan That Saved My Life

Thomas Burton, reporter for the Wall Street Journal and Pulitzer Prize winner, discovered through a screening that his carotid artery was 99% blocked— putting his life in severe danger.

Mr. Burton is active, seemingly in good health, and an educated health columnist who has written about stroke and vascular screening in the past.  Mr. Burton discovered his blockage just prior to his daughter’s wedding.

His overarching point – carotid artery disease is often silent, particularly in the early stages, and even when symptomatic, can be mistaken for something else, delaying diagnosis.

“Clots cause about 700,000 strokes that lead to 130,000 deaths annually in the U.S, and are the primary preventable cause of disability,” Burton writes. “Yet, 80% of those patients have no symptoms before the strokes.”

Luckily, Mr. Burton made it to his daughter’s wedding and had a successful surgery, saying, “…I feel lucky to have gotten a test that may have saved my life.”

Mr. Burton has written about Life Line Screening previously and we are gratified that he has included Life Line Screening as a community provider of carotid artery screenings.

To read the entire article, click here