Subtypes And Causes Of Stroke: Stroke
Content provided by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School
Subtypes and causes of stroke
A detective trying to solve a crime searches for physical clues that will help identify a suspect. In a similar way, a doctor diagnosing a stroke searches for anatomical and biological aberrations — the underlying pathology — in order to determine exactly what type of stroke has occurred and what caused it. Pathology is the medical version of a set of fingerprints left at a crime scene: It helps to identify the culprit.
The first challenge is to decide whether the stroke is ischemic or hemorrhagic. The doctor will ask about your symptoms, perform a physical examination, and order blood, urine, and imaging tests (see "Diagnosing a stroke"). Next the doctor must find out precisely what pathological process in the affected artery might have caused a blockage (leading to ischemia) or a blood vessel rupture (leading to hemorrhage). Ischemic stroke and TIAs have four subtypes, based on four distinct pathologies. Hemorrhagic strokes are first defined by location (either intracerebral or extracerebral intracranial hemorrhage), and then by pathological subtype.
| Last updated: | September 05, 2008 |
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Medical content reviewed by the Faculty of the Harvard Medical School. Harvard Health Publications, Copyright © 2007 by President and Fellows of Harvard College. All rights reserved. Used with permission of StayWell.
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