Acute stroke etiologies, evaluation

The evaluation of acute stroke patients with CTA is being performed to evaluate for the underlying vascular etiology (Smith et al., 2006). CTA can nicely demonstrate areas of stenosis or thrombosis in the arteries. The presence of a large vessel intracranial occlusion in an acute stroke patient has been found to even be an independent predictor of poor outcome (Smith et al., 2006). Also, computed tomographic venography has been found to be beneficial for evaluating patients for the presence of venous thrombosis. 

Rapid evaluation of patient to rule out acute MI, aortic dissection, other comorbid condition or nonstroke etiology (i.e., stroke mimic), and medical contraindications to t-PA. Identify severity of neurologic deficit and potential contraindications to IV t-PA... 

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