Cerebrovascular accident or stroke (also called brain attack) results from sudden

interruption of blood supply to the brain, which precipitates neurologic dysfunction lasting
longer than 24 hours. Stroke are either ischemic, caused by partial or complete occlusions of a
cerebral blood vessel by cerebral thrombosis or embolism or hemorrhage (leakage of blood from
a vessel causes compression of brain tissue and spasm of adjacent vessels). Hemorrhage may
occur outside the dura (extradural), beneath the dura mater (subdural), in the subarachnoid space
(subarachnoid), or within the brain substance itself (intracerebral).

Risk factors for stroke include transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) – warning sign of impending
stroke – hypertension, arteriosclerosis, heart disease, elevated cholesterol, diabetes mellitus,
obesity, carotid stenosis, polycythemia, hormonal use, I.V., drug use, arrhythmias, and cigarette
smoking. Complications of stroke include aspiration pneumonia, dysphagia, constractures, deep
vein thrombosis, pulmonary embolism, depression and brain stem herniation.

Cerebrovascular accident is the term that refers to any functional abnormality of the
Central Nervous System that occurs when the normal blood supply to the
brain is disrupted, as by a blood clot or a ruptured blood vessel, and vital brain tissue dies.
Cerebrovascular accident is commonly called Strokes.

Cerebrovascular accident may be caused by any of three mechanisms.

 Cerebral Thrombosis – blockage in the thrombus (clot) that has built up on the wall of

the brain artery.

 Cerebral Embolism – blockage by an embolus (usually a clot) swept into the artery in

the brain.
  Hemorrhage - Rupture of a blood vessel and bleeding within or over the surface

of the brain.

Thrombosis and embolism both lead to cessation of blood supply to part of the brain thus to
infarction (tissue death). Rupture of a blood vessel in or near the
brain may cause an intracerebral hemorrhage or subarachnoid hemorrhage.

The symptoms of a stroke usually develop over minutes or hours occasionally over several days.
Depending on the site, cause and extent of damage, any or all of the symptoms at right may be
present, in any degree of severity. The more serious cases lead to rapid loss of consciousness,
coma, and death or to severe physical or mental handicap.

Hemiplegia – weakness or paralysis on one side of the body is one of the more common effects
of a serious stroke.

The following are the symptoms of Cerebrovascular accident:

 Headache
 Dizziness and confusion
 Visual disturbance
 Slurred speech or loss of speech
 Difficulty of swallowing

Risk factors:

 Age

 High blood pressure – weakens the walls of arteries

 Atherosclerosis - narrowed artery channels
 Heart disease - cause blot clot in the heart that may break off and migrate to
the brain.

 Diabetes mellitus – accelerated degeneration of small blood vessel

 Smoking – increase the risk ofhypertension
 Polycythemia - a raised level of red cells in the blood.
 Hyperlipidemia – high level of fatty substances in the blood