Stroke (patient information)

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What is stroke?

How do I know if I have stroke and what are the symptoms of stroke?

There are two major kinds of stroke. The first, called an ischemic stroke, is caused by a blood clot that blocks or plugs a blood vessel or artery in the brain. About 80 percent of all strokes are ischemic. The second, known as a hemorrhagic stroke, is caused by a blood vessel in the brain that breaks and bleeds into the brain. About 20 percent of strokes are hemorrhagic. Small strokes may not cause any symptoms, but can still damage brain tissue. According to The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), there are five major signs of stroke as the following.

Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm, or leg (especially on one side of the body)
Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding speech
Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes
Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination
Sudden severe headache with no known cause

Who is at risk for stroke?

Hypertension
Heart disease,such as coronary artery disease, rheumatic heart disease
Diabetes
High cholesterol
Smoking
Increasing age

How to know you have stroke?

A stroke is a medical emergency. Anyone suspected of having a stroke should be taken to a medical facility immediately for evaluation and treatment.

Physical examination, especially examination on nervous system
Computerized tomography: In order to help determine the cause of a suspected stroke, a CT scan of the brain is often performed. It can detect bleeding or masses within the brain, which is a much different situation than stroke. Also, CT scan can help differentiate stroke from other brain diseases, such as brain tumor, brain abscess.
MRI scan: Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) uses magnetic waves rather than x-rays to image the brain. It can supply more detailed than those from CT, but this is not a first line test in stroke because an MRI may take more than an hour to complete.
MRA (magnetic resonance angiogram): MRA is a procedure to use a specifically view the blood vessels non-invasively (without using tubes or injections) with MRI. Doctors can get more information from this test.
Angiogram: An angiogram is an invasive procedure that is sometimes used to view the blood vessels. During this procedure, a long catheter tube is inserted into an artery (usually in the groin area) and dye is injected while x-rays are simultaneously taken. Now angiogram is replaced by computerized tomography with angiography.
Computerized tomography with angiography: With the guide of CT, the doctor uses the dye that is injected into a vein in the arm, to image the blood vessels in the brain. This procedure can give information regarding aneurysms or arteriovenous malformations. As well, other abnormalities of brain blood flow may be evaluated.