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Imaging of Stroke

"Stroke" is a clinical diagnosis; however imaging is playing an increasingly important role in its diagnosis and management. The most important issue to determine when imaging a stroke patient is whether one is dealing with a hemorrhagic or ischemic event. This has crucial therapeutic and triage implications. Decisions that must be made concerning therapy are dependent on the diagnosis and may include the following:
- Is the patient a thrombolysis candidate and should thrombolytic therapy be used?
- Intravenous or intrarterial therapy?
- Neurosurgery or neurology patient?
In addition about 2% of clinically definite "strokes" are found to be a result of some other pathology such as a tumor, a subdural hematoma or an infection.

Test your knowledge:
True or false, the most important issue to determine when imaging a stroke patient is whether a hemorrhagic or ischemic event has occurred.