CVA impairments Part 2 Flashcards
List common CVA neurological impairments
- altered consciousness
- cognitive and perceptual deficits
- visual deficits
- vestibular deficits
- somatosensory deficits
- postural and balance deficits
- fatigue
- pain
what are the levels of consciousness
- full consciousness
- lethargy → general slowing of cognitive and motor processes
- Obtundation → dulled or blunted sensitivity, difficult to arouse
- Stupor → state of semi-consciousness, only arouses w/intense stimulation
- coma → unconsciousness
how do we measure level of consciousness?
Glasgow coma scale → measures 3 areas of consciousness: eye opening, motor response, verbal response
scores 3-15
what are some post stroke considerations with the GCS?
total GCS score found to predict acute mortality w/88% validity
Cognition and communication deficits common post CVA, concern for impacting verbal scores
arousal levels will often fluctuate and levels of consciousness have many potential causes and influences such as:
- course of injury/neuroanatomy injured
- medical interventions
- medications
- autonomic system dysfunction
- sleep/wake cycle disruption
- Patient positioning
what are the basic components of the cognitive eval?
- orientation (person, place, time, situation)
- attention
- sustained, selective, divided, alternating
- memory
- immediate recall, short-term, long-term
- executive function
- abstract thinking, problem-solving, judgement, reasoning, insight
- communication
- spontaneous speech, command following, repetitive and naming, articulation
- behavior
how does a CVA impact orientation and what brain regions are involved?
- orientation deficits:
- disorientation denotes general intellectual dysfunction but can reflect difficulties w/attention, memory
- often requries increased cues, redirection encouragement
- brain regions:
- multiple cortical regions involved
how does a CVA impact attention and what brain regions are involved?
- attention deficits:
- most common cognitive deficit post stroke
- difficulty in processing and assimilating new info and tech, motor learning, dual task
- dysfunction correlated w/balance impairments, falls
- brain regions involved:
- prefrontal cortex
- reticular formation
how does a CVA impact memory and what brain regions are involved?
- memory deficits:
- difficulty w/carry-over of newly learned or retained tasks
- long-term memory typically remains intact
- brain regions involved:
- Short term:
- prefrontal cortex
- limbic system
- Long term:
- hippocampus
- temporal lobe
- Short term:
how does a CVA impact executive function and what brain regions are involved?
- executive function deficits:
- inappropriate interactions, poor self-monitoring and self-correcting
- impulsive, inflexible thinking, decreased insight, impaired organization, sequencing and planning abilities, impaired judgement
- brain regions involved
- prefrontal cortex
list some broad CVA behavioral considerations
Emotional changes → lesions affecting frontal lobe, hypothalamus, and limbic system can produce notable emotional changes such as:
- apathy
- euphoria
- pseudobulbar affect
- depression
what is the pseudobulbar affect?
state of emotional liability due to neurologic insult
- correlated w/inferior frontal and inferior parietal lobe damage (R or L)
- emotional outbursts of uncontrolled or exaggerated laughing or crying
- inconsient with actual mood
a right hemispheric lesion will have what behavioral considerations?
- difficulty percieving emotions
- difficulty w/expression of negative emotions
- irritability, confusion
- impulsive, quick movement
- poor judgment
- rigidity of thought
- absent or poor insight, awareness of impairments, may completely deny disability
- high safety risk
a left hemispheric lesion will have what behavioral considerations?
- difficulty w/expression of positive emotions
- slow, anxious, cautious
- disorganized and distracted when attempting to complete a task
- compulsive behavior
- typically very aware of impairments and extent of disability; more realistic
- may need extra coaxing to participate
- high safety risk
summarize the big themes for right vs left hemispheric lesions’ impact on behavior
- Right → impulsive, quick = big fallers
- left → more guarded and cautious, compulsive = more tense and have a higher fear of falling
what are some perceptual deficits that may be present with a R hemispheric lesion?
- Body scheme impairments
- unilateral neglect, pusher’s syndrome
- anosognosia, somatagnosia, R-L discrimination
- Difficulties in general w/spatial relationships
- hand-eye coordination
- figure-ground discrimination
- position-in-space depth and distance
- topographical disorientation
- agnosias
- visual, auditory, sensory
what are some perceptual deficits that may occur with left hemispheric lesions?
Apraxia
both ideational and ideomotor
Where does unilateral neglect mostly occur?
R temproparietal junction, posterior parietal lesions
also: dorsolateral frontal lobe, cingulate gyrus, thalamic, putamen lesions
How is neglect classified?
- modality
- sensory (auditory, visual, tactile)
- motor
- representational
- distribution
- person
- spatial (peri-personal, extra-personal)
A stroke impacting what artery most commonly results in neglect?
MCA