- Cerebrovascular Disease
Causes of subarachnoid haemorrhage include rupture of berry aneurysm (an aneurysm is a bulge in a blood vessel due to a weakness in the blood vessel), trauma and arteriovenous malformation. Most berry aneurysms occur sporadically, but risk factors include smoking and hypertension. When they rupture can cause a variety of symptoms; severe headache, nausea and vomiting, loss of consciousness. Treatment surgical repair and supportive care dependent upon how the damage manifests.
Hemorrhagic Stroke
Most commonly caused by hypertension. Other causes are; bleeding disorders, arteriovenous malformations, brain tumors, or amyloid angiopathy, in which proteins build up on the walls of the arteries of the brain. Symptoms include; loss of consciousness, nausea and vomiting, headache, neurologic deficits. Treatment; anti coagulants, control of blood pressure, surgical decompression if necessary.
Ischemic Stroke
Causes include; thrombosis, embolism, hypotension. Symptoms will depend upon site of ischemia and may include; sensory loss and weakness in contralateral leg, contralateral paralysis and sensory loss, vision loss in half of the sensory field, aphasia. Treatment thrombolytic therapy; anti platelet therapy, physical therapy, statins for cholesterol-lowering effects. Transient Ischaemic attack (TIC) resolves within 24 hrs.
