Chapter 23 Stroke Flashcards
Define Stroke.
A stroke is defined by the WHO as the rapid development of clinical signs of cerebral dysfunction, with signs lasting at least 24 hours or leading to death with no apparent cause other than that of vascular origin.
Name the top 3 causes of death.
Heart disease, cancer, stroke.
Describe the classification and subclassifcations of the types of strokes.
The two major types of stroke are ischemic (≈83%) and hemorrhagic (17%).
On further categorizing, 32% are embolic, 31% large vessel thrombotic, 20% small vessel thrombotic, 10% intracerebral hemor-rhagic, and 7% subarachnoid hemorrhagic.
Name 3 populations who are at increased risk of developing stroke.
Males, African Americans, and the elderly are at increased risk for developing stroke.
Name 3 Modifiable risk factors.
HTN, DM, hyper-cholesterolemia, hyperhomocysteinemia, hypercoagulable states, heart disease, carotid arteriosclerosis, substance abuse, obesity, and a sedentary lifestyle.
Name 3 deficits in MCA
Deficits can include c/l hemiplegia/hypesthesia (face and arm worse than leg), c/l homonymous hemianopia, and i/l gaze preference.
Describe clinical presentation in dominant hemisphere MCA involvement
receptive aphasia (inferior division of MCA to Wernicke’s area) and/or expressive aphasia (superior division of MCA to Broca’s area) can occur, but classically patients can learn from demonstration and mistakes.
What is Gerstmann’s syndrome (parietal lobe)?
MCA. consists of asomatognosia (right–left confusion), dyscalculia, finger agnosia, and dysgraphia.
Describe clinical presentation in nondominant hemisphere involvement
spatial dyspraxia and c/l hemineglect may be seen; insight/judgment are often affected (likely to need supervision); ADL recovery is often said to be slower.
Name 3 deficits in Acrodermatitis Chronica Atrophican (ACA)
Deficits can include c/l hemiplegia/hypesthesia (leg worse than arm; face and hand spared), alien arm/hand syndrome, urinary incontinence, gait apraxia, abulia (inability to make decisions), perseveration, amnesia, paratonic rigidity (Gegenhalten, or variable resistance to passive ROM), and transcortical motor aphasia (with a dominant hemisphere ACA lesion).
Name 5 deficits in Posterior Cerebral Artery (PCA).
Deficits can include c/l homonymous hemianopia, c/l hemianesthesia, c/l hemiplegia, c/l hemiataxia, and vertical gaze palsy.
Dominant-sided PCA lesions can lead to what clinical SX?
amnesia, color anomia, dyslexia w/o agraphia, and simultagnosia (defunct perceptual analysis).
Nondominant-sided PCA lesions can lead to what clinical SX?
prosopagnosia (cannot recognize familiar faces).
The central poststroke pain (Dejerine-Roussy or thalamic pain) syndrome can occur with involvement of what branch of the PCA?
thalamogeniculate branch of the PCA.
Name 2 properties of Weber’s syndrome (penetrating branches to the midbrain) (PCA involvement).
i/l CN III palsy and c/l limb weakness).
A b/l PCA stroke can cause what 2 syndromes?
Anton syndrome (cortical blindness, with denial) or Bálint’s syndrome, which consists of optic ataxia, loss of voluntary but not reflex eye movements, and an inability to understand visual objects (asimul-tagnosia).
The lateral medullary (Wallenberg) syndrome is caused by infarction to what artery?
posterior inferior cerebellar artery
Describe the clinical presentation of lateral medullary (Wallenberg) syndrome.
consists of vertigo, nystagmus, dysphagia, dysarthria, dysphonia, i/l Horner’s syndrome, i/l facial pain or numbness, i/l limb ataxia, and c/l pain and temporary sensory loss.
The “locked-in” syndrome is due to infarction to what artery? What is system is spared?
basilar artery. b/l pontine infarcts affecting the corticospinal and bulbar tracts, but sparing the reticular activating system. Patients are awake and sensate, but paralyzed and unable to speak. Voluntary blinking and vertical gaze may be intact.
What is Anton syndrome?
The Anton syndrome (basilar artery) is characterized by cortical blindness with denial.
What cranial nerves are affected in Millard-Gubler syndrome?
Describe the clinical SX of Millard-Gubler syndrome.
Millard-Gubler syndrome is a unilateral lesion of the ventrocaudal pons that may involve the basis pontis and the fascicles of cranial nerves VI and VII.
Symptoms include contralateral hemiplegia, ipsilateral lateral rectus palsy, and ipsilateral peripheral facial paresis. When the penetrating branches of the PCA to the midbrain get affected, it could result in Weber syndrome. Symptoms are ipsilateral characterized by the presence of an oculomotor nerve palsy and contralateral hemiparesis or hemiplegia.
When is IV tissue plasminogen activator (tPA) indicated for acute ischemic stroke?
within 3 hours of symptom onset.
Name 3 Contraindications for the use of tPA.
- Minor stroke symptoms/tPA
- Head CT positive for blood
- BP > 185/100 despite medical treatment
- Coagulopathy
- Platelets > 100 k
- Blood sugar 400
- Stroke/severe brain injury in past 3 months
- History of IVH, arteriovenous malformation, or aneurysm
- History of GI or GU bleed in past 30 days
- Major surgery in past 14 days
- Seizure at onset of stroke
- Acute myocardial infarct
What is the evidence regarding SC heparin, low-molecular-weight heparin, or heparinoids in treating acute ischemic stroke?
Clinical trials, in general, do not show clear benefits for SC heparin, low-molecular-weight heparin, or heparinoids in the treatment of acute ischemic stroke, but they are recommended for DVT/pulmonary embolism (PE) prophylaxis in the absence of contraindications.
Low-dose ASA (160 to 325 mg) is recommended within 48 hours for patients with acute ischemic strokes not receiving thrombolytics or anti-coagulation. ASA can be safely used with low-dose SC heparin for DVT prophylaxis.