Case study: Bary (Stroke) Flashcards
Who is Barry?
Barry W, aged 64, was admitted to hospital and diagnosed with having suffered a stroke after he collapsed while crossing the street on his way to the hospital.
What was barry’s symptoms before his collapse?
- Lethargy
- Fatigue
- Hearing impairment
- Loss of appetite
- “Funny turns”. Issues with coordination and motor control
- Erratic behaviour
What was Barrys symptoms from his stroke?
- Couldn’t speak/ slurred speech
- Couldn’t move his arm
- R) sided facial droop
- Collapse
- Difficulty hearing
- Uncoordinated movements/ difficulty moving
What was barry’s GCS upon admission?
Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS): 10/15
What was barrys vitals upon admission?
BP: 185/110 mmHg
HR: 92 beats/min
RR: 30 breaths/min
O2 saturation: 100% on 2 L/min
BGL: 16.5 mmol/L
What are the general, modifiable risk factors of stroke?
- Excessive alcohol consumption
- Atherosclerosis or vascular disease
- Certain drugs
- DM
- Hypertension
- Hypercholesterolemia
- Obesity
- Smoking
What are the general, NON modifiable risk factors of stroke?
- Older age
- Family hx of CVA or MI
- Male sex
- Arterial abnormalities
- Ethnic origin (African or asian)
- Patent foraman oval
- AF
- Certain blood disorders
- Previous CVA or TIA or MIA
What is barrys previous health hx?
A couple months prior, Barry had experienced a similar episode in which he was admitted to ED. Went back to normal.
About four years prior to that, Barry had a stroke affecting the left temporoparietal-occipital area of his brain and leaving him with right homonymous quadrantanopia (Loss of the the same quadrant of the visual field in each eye).
- Hypertension (poorly controlled)
- T2DM
What was barrys risk factors?
- Advanced age
- Hypertension
- T2DM
- Previous CVA/ TIA
- Male sex
Why can the symptoms of stroke widley vary?
Signs and symptoms of stroke can be wide and varied, depending on the location of stroke.
Stroke should be considered in any patient presenting with an acute neurological deficit (focal or global) or altered level of consciousness.
What symptoms are more common in hemorrhagic strokes?
Nausea, vomiting, headache, and a sudden change in the patient’s level of consciousness are more common in hemorrhagic strokes.
What are general symptoms of CVA?
- Numbness of the face, arm or leg- particularly if only one side of the body is affected
- Difficulty seeing with one or both eyes
difficulty with walking - Dizziness, imbalance, or uncoordinated movement
- Facial droop or uneven appearance to the face uneven muscle strength in limbs
Although such symptoms can occur alone, they are more likely to occur in combination.
What does F.A.S.T stand for?
- Face
- Arms
- Speech
- Time of symptom onset / time to get help
When assessing “face” from FAST what should you ask?
Ask the person to smile.
- Does one side of the face droop?
- Does the face or eye look crooked?
A section of the face, usually only on one side, could droop and the patient may find it hard to move.
When assessing “arms” from FAST what should you ask?
Ask the person to raise both arms.
- Does the person have difficulty lifting one or both arms?
- Do one or both arms drift?
When assessing “speech” from FAST what should you ask?
Ask the person to speak or repeat a sentence.
- Are the words slurred?
- Is the person having difficulty speaking or unable to speak?
- Does the person have a problem understanding you?
When assessing “time” from FAST what should you ask?
Establishing the time at which the patient was last without stroke symptoms, or last known to be normal, is especially critical when fibrinolytic therapy is an option. In some cases, this may be difficult and could require input from others regarding the onset of symptoms.
What are the two main kinds of CVAs?
ischemic and hemorrhagic
What is an ischemic CVA?
Ischemic: Narrowing or occlusion of cerebral arteries leading to tissue ischemia. Subsequent tissue infarction if perfuscion isn’t restored quickly.
Ischemic stroke caused either by thrombus or embolus.
Most common kind of stroke (80%-85%)
What is a hemorrhagic stroke?
Occurs when there is a rupture of the cerebral arteries, resulting in hemorrhage and hematoma formation within the surrounding tissues.
Hemorrhagic strokes lead to direct tissue damage from blood and tissue ischemia further downstream from the rupture.
Increase ICP. Can lead to brain swelling.
About 15% of strokes
The hypoxic tissue resorts to anaerobic metabolism and, if the blood supply is not restored, it eventually leads to cell death (infarction) and functional loss.
What kind of stroke did barry have?
Ischemic stroke.
Likely caused by a ‘shower of emboli’ obstructing blood supply to different regions of his brain.
The emboli most likely resulted in infarcts occurring over the course of several weeks.
The most probable explanation is that the emboli originated from an atherosclerotic plaque which was progressively breaking up.
For bary, what arteries were involved with his stroke?
- Left middle cerebral artery
- Left posterior cerebral artery
- Posterior inferior cerebellar artery
In what brain tissue did barry have infarction?
- Left temporal lobes
- Left occipital lobes
- Cerebellum
- Brainstem
What nerves were involved in barry’s stroke?
Right cranial nerve V (Trigeminal)
Right cranial nerve VI (Abducens)
Right cranial nerve VII (Facial)
Some impact on cranial nerve X (Vagus)
Which of the following are categories on the GCS?
- Motor response
- Eye opening
- Verbal response
What is the range of scores for the GCS?
3 - 15
Before starting a GCS assessment what is important to check?
- Patient understands procedure
- Ascertain the patient’s acuity of hearing
- Whether the can speak English
- Check any medical condition that may affect the accuracy (e.g., a previous stroke that is affecting the movement of the patient’s arms or eye defect)
- Check the neurological observation chart for the GCS scale and previous result