Symptoms of Stroke

Various symptoms can occur depending on which part of the brain is occluded or damaged. The vessels supplying these areas and their symptoms are as follows1: 

Anterior Cerebral Artery (ACA)1:

• ACA infarction causes contralateral sensory and motor deficits in the lower extremity of the body

Middle Cerebral Artery (MCA)1:

• Most commonly affected artery in stroke

• Infarctions cause facial and upper extremity contralateral hemiparesis, paralysis, and sensory loss

• Other symptoms include dysarthria, visual field loss, aphasia. 

Posterior Cerebral Artery (PCA)1:

• Superficial PCA supplies the occipital lobe and medial temporal lobe

• Deep PCA involves the thalamus and posterior deep brain structures

• Infarction causes a multitude of symptoms: thalamic dysfunction, cognitive impairment, ocular findings, ataxia,  hypoesthesia, hypersomnolence, hemisensory loss, amnesia, and cortical blindness

Vertebrobasilar infarction1:

• The vertebrobasilar region of the brain is supplied by vertebral arteries and the basilar artery

• Infarction causes ataxia, vertigo, headache, vomiting, oropharyngeal dysfunction, visual field deficits, and abnormal oculomotor findings

Lacunar infarction1:

• Lacunar arteries are small perforating or penetrating arteries that are les than 1 cm in diameter

• infarction causes motor or sensory deficits, sensorimotor loss, ataxic hemiparesis

Review Questions

ANSWER KEY

1. C

2. B