Ischemic Stroke, Intro (1) Flashcards
What is the difference between stroke and Transient ischemic attack (TIA)?
A stroke causes focal neurological deficits that are permanent, while a TIA is defined as the abrupt onset of focal neurological deficits that fully resolve within 1 hour
*main difference is whether or not the deficits are reversible
What is a stroke?
Brain injury due to interruption of blood flow to the brain, whether ischemic or hemorrhagic
What is a Resolving Ischemic Neurologic Deficit (RIND)?
Acute focal neurological deficits that resolve completely, but take longer than 1 hour to do so; these have detectable injury on MRI brain scans, although no functional deficits are seen, so are referred to as “silent strokes”
What is the most common type of stroke (among the main two types)?
Ischemic –> due to interruption of blood flow to brain
What is MC type of ischemic stroke?
Cryptogenic–> etiology unknown
Stroke due to disease of the lumen of small arterioles
Lacunar infarct–> 25% of ischemic strokes, most common after the cryptogenic variety
Other than lacunar or cryptogenic, what are the two main causes of a ischemic stroke?
- Atherosclerotic cerebrovascular disease
- Embolism
- both represent ~20% of ischemic strokes
What two types of hemorrhagic strokes are there? What % of strokes do hemorrhagic strokes represent?
- Intracerebral –> bleeding into parenchyma of brain
- Subarachnoid–> bleeding around surface of brain
- around 20% of strokes; these two types are roughly equal, so each independently represent ~10% of strokes
Stroke is the _____ leading cause of death in the U.S.
Third leading cause of death
*is leading cause of adult disability
Which three states have the highest incidence of strokes in the U.S?
South Carolina, Arkansas, and TN–> southeast known as the “Stroke Belt”
Esp prominent in east Appalachia and in the mid-south
What are the four general non-modifiable risk factors for stroke?
- Age
- Gender
- Race
- Family Hx
How does stroke risk increase with age?
Incidence doubles for each decade above 55
What are 8 modifiable risk factors for stroke?
- HTN
- DM
- Hyperlipidemia
- Smoking
- Carotid artery stenosis
- Atrial fibrillation
- Obesity
- Physical inactivity
What is the number one risk factor for stroke?
Hypertension!
- A-fib actually has the highest incidence of stroke, but it’s prevalence is way less, so when taking into account both prevalence and relative risk for stroke, HTN is #1, followed by Hyperlipidemia, smoking, and inactivity (these three all add the same risk)
What is the difference between cerebral infarction and selective ischemic necrosis? When is selective ischemic necrosis more often seen?
Cerebral infarction is necrosis of all cellular elements in the brain(neurons, glial cells, etc.); selective ischemic necrosis effects neurons alone
*selective ischemic necrosis is more commonly encountered due to transient global brain ischemia from cardiac arrest and successful cardiac resuscitation
What two neuron types are especially vulnerable to ischemic insult?
- CA1 pyramidal neurons of the hippocampus
2. Cerebellar Purkinje cells of the cerebellum
How long can the brain survive on its energy stores in the absence of blood flow? What happens when these stores are depleted?
2 1/2 minutes–> each 100 gm of brain stores this, so focal injury doesn’t take long
- in ischemia, lactic acid levels build up due to increased glycolytic metabolism–> triggers catabolic mechanisms that lead to cell death
What two conditions can accurate the catabolic processes that are initiated by ischemia/ depletion of brain energy stores?
- Hyperthermia
- Hyperglycemia
*therefore normalizing body temp and glucose levels are goals for acute stroke intervention
What is the term for the central area around an infarct with the most severe blood flow reduction? How long does it take to get irreversible damage to such an area?
Ischemic core–> irreversible damage in 1 hour or less
What is the term for the parts of the brain damaged by infarct more distal to the occlusion that may have some collateral blood flow and therefore slightly less ischemia? How long can these areas go until irreversible damage may be seen?
Ischemic penumbra–> these areas may survive for a few hours
Acute stoke intervention has a therapeutic window of __-__ hours.
4-6 hours to restore blood flow and salvage brain tissue otherwise destined to die
How is MAP calculated?
MAP = CO x SVR
Which gender and which race are non-modifiable risk factors for stroke, along with age?
- Male gender (1.5x risk for females)
- African-American (2x risk of Caucasians)
*Family Hx is also a non-modifiable risk factor
What is the relationship of mean arterial pressure to cerebral blood flow and cerebral vascular resistance?
CBF = MAP/CVR
What is the normal range of MAP? How does CBF fluctuate in this range?
55 mmHg - 155 mmHg
- CBF is constant in this range, so is independent of MAP; however when it is above or below this range, CBF is directly proportional to MAP
What does MAP below 55 do to CBF? Result?
CBF drops in a linear relationship along with MAP, resulting in syncope
- due to a loss of auto regulatory control; capacity to protect against MAP changes has been overwhelmed
Above 155 mmHg, what happens to CBF? What results?
It increases in a linear relationship with MAP, leading to hypertensive encephalopathy
In chronic HTN, what value does CBF start falling in proportion to MAP?
At 75 mmHg–> the chronic HTN means the cerebral vasculature is more dilated, as a compensatory mechanism to protect against damage. So a less marked drop in MAP will cause the CBF to also begin decreasing
What guidelines are recommended for the treatment of acute stroke in people with chronic HTN?
DONT lower BP unless the systolic is over 220 or if diastolic is over 120; also lower only by 10-15% in the first 24 hrs
*lowering any quicker will result in poor perfusion to ischemic penumbral areas and more ischemia/necrosis will result than would have normally
What are 6 neurologic signs/symptoms commonly seen with stroke?
- Weakness or paralysis
- Loss of sensation
- Loss of vision in one eye or field
- Difficulty with language comprehension
- Difficulty with organization or perception
- Clumsiness or lack of balance
What are 4 arteries involved in Anterior Circulation strokes?
- Internal carotid
- Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA)
- Anterior Cerebral Artery (ACA)
- Lateral striate artery
What are 5 arteries involved in posterior circulation strokes?
- Vertebral artery (VA)
- Posterior Cerebral artery (PCA)
- Superior cerebellar artery (SCA)
- Anterior inferior cerebellar artery (AICA)
- Posterior inferior cerebellar artery (PICA)