Cerebral Vascular Accident (CVA)
Stroke - Overview
 Third leading cause of
death in industrialized
countries.
 Total cost of strokes in
the U.S. is roughly $43
billion a year.
 $15,000 a year in medical
care costs during the first
3 months after the attack.
 Age is the principal risk
factor.
 Most strokes occur after
the age of 65
 More common in men
 Second greatest risk
factor is high blood
pressure
 Transient Ischemic Attack
(TIA) - Symptoms are
temporary but should be
seen as a warning sign
that a stroke is likely to
occur.
 Incidence
 Approximately 500k Americans each year
 3 million Americans have survived strokes
 2 million Americans subsequently suffer
from paralysis, speech & memory loss.
 Symptoms
 Depends on the type  Drooping of the
of stroke and location mouth
of the lesion  Drooling
 Contra-lateral  Numbness on one side
impairment  Loss of vision in one
 Hemiparesis - visual field (transient
monocular blindness)
weakness on one side
of the body - entire  Dysarthria (slurred
speech)
side; face, arm, or leg
 Symptoms cont’d
 Visual disturbances  Vertigo - dizziness,
e.g. double vision, spinning sensation,
altered visual imbalance
perception  Memory difficulties
 Aphasia - difficulties  Behavioral or
with expressive personality changes
and/or receptive  Swallowing
language; can not
name objects
 Causes
 Ischemic Stroke  Atherosclerosis - an
 85% of all strokes are accumulation of
from ischemia plaque, cholesterol,
 Lack of blood flow, or and blood clots forms
major disturbance of to the point of
blood flow due to the impeding subsequent
obstruction of a blood blood flow.
vessel
 Causes cont’d
 Intracranial  Pt.s experience a
Hemorrhage sudden headache,
 15% of strokes caused vomiting, depressed
from hemorrhage level of consciousness
(bleeding) in the brain  Some symptoms are
 Hypertension, caused by pressure
bleeding from tumors, associated with blood
trauma, illicit drug accumulation which is
use, high blood referred to as a
pressure hematoma
 Warning Signs
 Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm,
or leg, especially if it is unilateral
 Sudden confusion, difficulty speaking or
understanding speech
 Sudden difficulty seeing in one or both eyes
 Sudden difficulty walking dizziness, loss of
balance or coordination
 Sudden severe headache with no known cause