What is CVA?
Cerebellar vascular accident
-An acute neurologic dysfunction of vascular origin with symptoms and signs corresponding to the involvement of focal areas of the brain
Vascular damage to the brain disrupts blood flow and oxygen supply to surrounding cells leading to
brain tissue death or infarction
Symptoms and diagnosis for stroke are determined by
MLE
mechanism- cause or type of stroke
location-part of brain
extent of lesion-severity of stroke
Mechanism=
cause of stroke
Location
part of brain
Extent of lesion
severity of stroke
Vascular means
loss of blood to the brain
What does Ischemic mean
Obstruct of blood flow
- Results from blockage of blood vessel
- Thrombosis
- embolism
Ischemic=
Results from blockage of blood vessel
Thrombosis
Stenosis or occlusion
Embolism
Dislodged platelets, cholesterol, platelets, or other material that travel in bloodstream and blocks a vessel
Hemorrhagic
bleeding in different parts of the brain
What does hemorrhagic result from
rupture of blood vessels
- hypertension- cocaine and drug use
- arteriovenous malformation- aneurysm
- intracerebral
- subarachnoid
AVM=
abnormal connection between artery and veins
Transient Ischemic Attacks
Similar to stroke
-difference is that TIA blockage is temporary
Symptoms of TIA’s
- sudden numbness, or weakness of the face, arm, or leg especially in one side of the body
- sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding
- sudden trouble seeing in one eye or both eyes
- sudden trouble walking, dizziness loss of balance or coordination
Diagnostic workup->
- Obtain History
- Brief neuro exam
- CT scan
- MRI scan
Diagnostic workups: Radiology
- CT
- MRI
- PET
CT-Gross assessment- do it fast/rapidly
- shows abnormalities of the brain
- can help determine if these areas were caused by insufficient blood flow
Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)- Get a more accurate picture
-produces very accurate pictures of the brain and its arteries and can usually determine the area of the brain that is damages by an ischemic stroke
Positron emission tomography- chemical activity
uses radioactive material that is injected into the body to pinpoint areas of the brain with the greatest chemical activity. After the radioactive material is injected, the scanning machine reads how much energy is emitted from the brain, and creates a picture of the brain from that reading. PET is helpful in determining the extent of damage to the brain
Acute stroke care->
- determining cause and site of stroke
- preventing progression of stroke
- restoration of blood flow and limitation of neuronal damage for ischemic stroke
- control of intracranial pressure, preventing re-bleeding, maintenance of cerebral perfusion, and control of vasospasm for hemorrhagic stroke
- reducing cerebral edema
- preventing secondary medical complications
- treating acute neurological symptoms
Recovery from stroke->
- varies with nature and severity of the initial injury
- spontaneous recovery
- neuroplasticity- relearning to do things
- neurological and functional recovery
