Ischemic Stroke Research Paper

A stoke is a serious illness that is unfortunately, common in the United States. A stroke can also go by the name of a brain attack or a cerebrovascular accident. A stroke can come about when there is an interruption in the blood flow to the brain because, a blood vessel is blocked, or there is a rupture (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 128). There are various different etiologies of stokes. The first, and most common type of stroke is Ischemic. An Ischemic stroke is when “cerebral infarction, or brain tissue death, results when circulation to an area of the brain is obstructed, with the result being ischemia” (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 129). The three categories that an ischemia stroke can be categorized into include: embolic, thrombolytic,

131). The next type of ischemic stroke, which is thrombolytic, occurs when “a blood clot forms in one of the arteries supplying the brain, causing vascular obstruction at the point of its formation” (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 130). Blood vessels that have been damaged by atherosclerosis, which is a disease involving the walls of a blood vessel, run a higher risk of thrombosis occurring (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 130). The final type of of ischemic stroke is a lacunar stroke. A lacunar stroke are “small infracts, usually lying in the deep brain structures, such as the basal ganglia, thalamus, pons, internal capsule, and deep white matter” (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 130). With lacunar strokes, there are little neurological symptoms and many of the other symptoms are unnoticeable because, the size of the infracts are so small (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 130). Besides ischemic strokes there are also hemorrhagic strokes. Hemorrhagic strokes account for about 20% of all strokes and, are caused “by a rupture in a blood vessel or an aneurysm, with resultant bleeding into or around cerebral tissue” (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p.

The most common symptoms include, a sudden feeling of weakness on one side of the body in the face, arm, or leg, sudden confusion, being unable to see out of both, or one eye, loss of balance, difficulty walking, loss of coordination, dizziness, and severe headache (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 134). The symptoms that occur vary, and are different with each etiology. For example, cerebral thrombosis can often cause the victim to stutter (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 130). While these relate to signs and symptoms of major strokes, there are also transient ischemic attacks and small strokes that make occur. Transient ischemic attacks usually last under 24 hours, and are when blood supply is temporarily blocked from the brain (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p. 135). Small strokes are also known as RINDs, and sometimes may last over 24 hours with barely noticeable neurologic deficit (Atchison & Dirette, 2012, p.