Oct10 M1,2,3-Stroke Flashcards
stroke def
damage to CNS caused by abnormality of vascular supply
stroke types
- ischemic (something blocked arterial supply)
- hemorrhagic (artery broken or bursts and blood leaks out in brain): TWO problems –>abnormal blood supply + pressure on the brain
- venous (venous output blocked and P builds up. this leads to ischemic AND hemorrhagic stroke bc arterial supply diminishes)
type of stroke where time is brain
ischemic
main risk factor for CBVD (cerebrovascular disease) and why
hypertension
- the pathophysiology of ischemic stroke = atherosclerosis from increased turbulence and shear stress at BIFURCATIONS
- turbulence and shear stress caused by hypertension
examples of bifurc areas prone to shear stress
- where common carotids split off brachiocephalic trunk
- where internal carotid and external carotid split off common
- etc
4 main vessels going to the neck for supply
- internal carotids (2): anterior circulation
- vertebral aa (2): posterior circul.
components of the anterior circulation
- each internal carotid gives 1 anterior cerebral a (ACA) and 1 middle cerebral (a).
- the internal carotid is between the two (links them)
- ACA goes forward medial (along surface of each hemisphere)
- MCA goes lateral (in the Sylvian fissure between temporal and frontal lobes)
- the two ACAs on each side are linked by a short anterior communicating artery
components of the posterior circulation
- vertebral aa join to give a single basilar a
- at circle of Willis, basilar splits (at level of midbrain) into posterior cerebral arteries (PCA)
- PCA linked to origin of MCA (leaving internal carotid a) by posterior communicating artery (2 of those, one on each side)
components of circle of Willis
front to back
- anterior comm a (1)
- ACA (2), one on each side
- internal carotid aa (2), one on each side
- MCA (2), one on each side)
- posterior comm aa (2), one on each side
- 2 PCAs, branching off basilar a in the very back of the circle
where is the basilar a
on VENTRAL surface of the pons
circle of Willis things to know
- anastomoses protect against prob in blood supply
- occlusion of one ACA = the other compensates, blood crosses
- not all people have all the components of the circle of Willis, imp bc occlusion tells you want happened
other arteries in post circul at level of brainstem
bottom to tp
- posterior inferior cerebellar aa (PICA) branching off vertebral aa middle
- anterior spinal a (one artery of spinal cord on its ant. surface) first level is a branching off vertebral aa top
- anterior inferior cerebellar aa (AICA) branching off base of basilar a
- pontine aa (many) branching off middle of basilar a
- superior cerebellar aa (branching off top of basilar a before it forms the PCAs)
course of ACA
on medial surface of the brain (sagittal medial cut)
- goes up between the hemispheres
- initially in the back
- passes behind the corpus callosum and cingulate gyrus (limbic lobe)
- to the front
course of MCA
course observed in coronal view
- goes lat and supplies blood to outer surface of brain
- sends tiny lenticulostriate arteries going to deep structures in the brain (head of caudate, putamen, internal capsule)
clinical imp of lenticulostriate aa
bc are very tiny and comme right from a big vessel (MCA), are very prone to damage from htn
RFs for ischemic stroke other than htn (related to shear stress at bifurcations)
modifiable: -smoking -diabetes -lipids nonmodifiable: -CHF -age >75 -diabetes -prior stroke or thromboembolism (a thrombus (clot) forms somewhere and then embolizes = detaches and travels)
what is the CHADS2 score
IN AFIB PATIENTS, sum up score assoc to diff risk factors for ischemic stroke (IN THESE PTS) and give aco above a certain score
common ischemic stroke sx
- weakness
- numbness (loss of sensation, not tingling or wtv)
- aphasia (language problem: expressing, understanding language) and dysarhtria (motor problem of speech, of muscles making noises of speech)
- visual loss
- SUDDEN ONSET
- FOCAL SYMPTOMS (STROKE IS FOCAL so sx are related to part of brain affected)
- (headache) but IS NOT the main complaint, especially in ischemic stroke
stroke type where big headache can be the main presentation
hemorrhagic stroke
-this happens bc of high P
important hx component for dx of stroke
time course.
stroke happens suddenly, immediately, very fast
(tumor = weeks, neurodegenerative dz = months)
rare sx of stroke
- LOC (rare bc need BOTH hemispheres affected = most strokes don’t do that, OR something damaged midbrain (rare)
- pain
- abnormal mvmt
- loss of memory (is a BILATERAL function)
- decreased concentration
example of stroke presentation
- having dinner
- suddenly has slurred garbled speech
- couldn’t speak to his wife + understood only a few words
- could barely move left arm and leg
left side face weakness with sparing of forehead indicates what
it’s a UMN problem (bc UMNs of facial nerves go to both motor nuclei of VII for inn. of FOREHEAD LMNs so one side UMNs not working = no problem)
signs of UMN damage in stroke
- weakness of arms (detected with pronator drift for ex = flex arm up 90, one arm weak and pronates down)
- clumsy fingers (UMNs imp for fine mvmts)
- positive Babinski
- increased reflexes
UMN signs + speech prob: where to localize
region somewhere above the brainstem, probably right hemisphere bc left side sx for ex. then think stroke
stroke: after localizing the site of injury with the neuro exam, what is the next step
localizing which vessels are affected
vascular territories on the lateral surface of the brain (in sagittal lateral section)
- thin dome front to back on top = ACA
- line in bottom temporal + back occipital = PCA
- all rest of frontal, parietal, temporal = MCA (big circle in the middle)
vascular territories on medial surface of brain (sagittal medial section)
- ant half of region below corpus callosum = MCA
- post half of region below corpus callosum + occpital lobe = PCA
- top (frontal + parietal) = ACA
vascular territories in coronal cut of the brain
- ACA = superior fifth
- PCA = inferior fifth
- MCA = 3 middle fifths
- all ganglia + cortex*
vascular territories in axial cut of the brain
- ACA = anterior fifth
- MCA = middle 3 fifths
- PCA = posterior fifth
cortex charact
- diff areas control diff portions of the body
- bigger part of the body to be controlled = bigger portion of cortex dedicated to it. for ex, much more cortex for muscles of face than foot
regions of cortex and what they supply from superior medial to middle lateral to inferior medial (imagined in a coronal section)
- top fifth (sup medial) = foot + distal leg
- 2nd fifth = hand
- 3rd fifth (middle lat) = face, arm, proximal leg
- 4th fifth = face
- 5th fifth (inf medial) = vision
sx you get with ACA ischemic stroke and related to cortex fct
leg weakness (bc ACA top fifth foot and distal leg)
sx you get with MCA ischemic stroke and related to cortex fct
face, arm and proximal leg symptoms weakness (bc MCA to 3 middle fifths)
sx you get with PCA ischemic stroke and related to cortex fct
visual loss (bc inf fifth)
cortical vs subcortical ischemic stroke
- cortical = in large artery like MCA
- sub-cortical = in small aa like lenticulostriate aa of MCA (causing small volume infarct)
lacunar lesion in ischemic stroke def
small infarct volume, implying ischemic stroke of a small vessel.
and sub-cortical is a word use to precise the location = cerebral hemispheres but not cortex
symptoms related to small artery ischemic stroke causing small infarct volume + are they less important
- NOT less important than major vessel occlusion.
- the sx for small vessel occlusion are weakness of face, arm and leg because it supplies blood to internal capsule (where descending UMNs from cortex and ascending axons to cortex pass) (internal capsule goes towards brainstem)
symptoms that are found in ischemic stroke with major vessel occlusion that ARE NOT FOUND in ischemic stroke with small vessel occlusion
- language problem
- spatial problem
- visual prob
- sub-cortical injury spares these cortical fcts*
what is a cortical homunculus
representation of cortex and the parts of body on its side, disproportional and made as big as the parts of the cortex for them
-use this map for dx what artery affected in stroke pt
cortical ischemic stroke (large vessel occlusion) causes what sx and presentation overall
damage to large areas of the brain causes
- language impairment
- impairment in the dominant hemisphere (usually left bc people right handed, etc.) mvmts
- visual problems in the non dominant hemisphere
(imp) arteries that can be affected (be the cause) in an ischemic stroke in the brainstem + THEIR LOCATION (doesn’t mean what they supply)
- posterior comm aa (midbrain and pons junction)
- PCAs (midbrain and pons junction)
- superior cerebellar (comes off pons junction) (pons and medulla)
- basilar a (pons)
- pontine aa (pons)
- AICAs (medulla top)
- PICAs (medulla middle)
- anterior spinal a (medulla bottom)
sx of ischemic stroke to brainstem
- wide variety bc affects CN III to XIII: prob of connections to cerebellum, descending motor tracts, ascending sensory tracts
- visual fct SPARED except if ischemic stroke involving PCA (goes to occipital lobe)
(dnm details) midbrain blood supply
- PCAs and branches (sides)
- basilar a (middle)
- superior cerebellar aa (sides)
(dnm details) pons blood supply
- basilar a (post half)
- AICA (ant half)
(dnm details) medulla blood supply
if split each side into 3 Ls stuck together medial to lateral (3rd L is really a circle)(small line of the L is in the back)
- PICA (most lat third)
- vertebral aa (middle third = middle L)
- anterior spinal a (medial third = medial L)
how MRI helps find ischemia
bright signals = areas of infarct = damage
-small area of infarct = lacunar infarct
usual type of ischemic stroke in brainstem (big a occlusion or small a occlu)
small artery occlusion. (like the lenticulostriate aa of MCA)
pathophgy of ischemic stroke in brainstem
htn damaging the small arteries (like pathophgy of small a occl ischemic stroke of lenticulostriate aa of MCA)
after did neuro exam to localize sx + suspecting a specific occluded artery, what is the next step
do some tests
- CBC
- PT, PTT (make sure no coag problem)
- SMA-7 (a panel of blood tests including electrolytes, glucose, etc. to rule out other causes of these sx like renal prob or high glucose)
- CT head (rule out tumor or hemorrhage (but should be ruled out in hx) + look for infarction)
- CT angiogram (look for the vessel affected)
acute ischemic stroke on CT
can see
- borders of the brain regions harder to distinguish = early sign of ischemia
- can see loss of a cortical ribbon = early sign of infarct
- acute thrombus in vessel (appears bright). in MCA for ex, would call it dense MCA
- NEED TIME before see damage
acute ischemic stroke on CT after time elapsed
can see
- large area of infarct (called completed stroke = brain is dead)
- partial territory of infarct with sparing
diffusion-weighted MRI in acute ischemic stroke
- can see the changes from stroke earlier than CT
- can see small areas of infarct or ischemia not seen on CT (after a normal CT, you do an MRI)
perfusion imaging (perfusion CT) in acute ischemic stroke
can detect
- contrast of areas with good blood flow (red) vs poor flow (blue)
- TELLS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ISCHEMIA AND INFARCT
- is not a CT angiogram