Differential diagnosis stroke

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Meningitis, basilar artery blood clots (thrombosis), cardioembolic stroke, cavernous sinus syndromes, cerebral venous blood clots (thrombosis), confusional states and acute memory disorders, epileptic and epileptiform encephalopathies, febrile seizures, haemophilus meningitis, intracranial hemorrhage, leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, subdural pus (empyema), or bruise (hematoma). 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Bartonellosis, brucellosis, other causes of encephalitis, coxsackieviruses, cryptococcosis, cysticercosis, cytomegalovirus, histoplasmosis, legionellosis, leptospirosis, listeria, lyme disease, malaria, rabies, tuberculosis, mumps, stroke, metabolic encephalopathy, Reye syndrome, Bartonella infection, Naegleria infection, Ebstein-Barr virus, prion disease, toxic ingestions, and AIDS. 

Suggested Alternatives for Differential Diagnosis Acute poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis, spotted fevers, typhus, malaria, hepatitis, Colorado tick fever, septicemia, heat stroke, disseminated intravascular coagulation, leptospirosis, hemolytic uremic syndrome. 

Classical migraine with typical visual symptoms preceding unilateral headache are seldom a differential diagnosis with ischemic stroke. Increased awareness of patients of ischemic symptoms and rapid presentation to emergency rooms with immediate initiation of thrombolytic therapy may chal-... 

The authors discussed the difficulty of the differential diagnosis between lithium intoxication and other neurological disorders, such as strokes. What they did not discuss was the possibility that the presentation was caused by sinus node dysfunction, which has been reported as a complication of lithium treatment. 

The presentation of neuroleptic malignant syndrome with clozapine can be different from that associated with traditional neuroleptic drugs (SEDA-28, 66), and the authors of a recent report have pointed out the differential diagnosis with heat stroke, a medical emergency with the two cardinal features of raised core body temperature (40° C) and central nervous system dysfunction, which is fatal in up to 50% of cases (205). 

Anything that causes a TIA may, if more severe or prolonged, cause a stroke (Sempere et al. 1998). There are many non-vascular conditions that may cause symptoms suggestive of TIA or stroke, and these are referred to in this book as TIA mimics or stroke mimics. The separation of TIA from stroke on the basis of a 24-hour time limit is useful since the differential diagnosis of the two syndromes is different to some extent (i.e. the spectrum of TIA mimics differs from that of stroke mimics). 

Thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura is a rare acute or subacute disease in adults, rather similar to the hemolytic uremic syndrome in children, in which there is systemic malaise, fever, skin purpura, renal failure, hematuria and proteinuria. Hemorrhagic infarcts caused by platelet microthrombi occur in many organs in the brain they may cause stroke-like episodes (Matijevic and Wu 2006) although more commonly there is global encephalopathy. The blood film shows thrombocytopenia, hemolytic anemia and fragmented red cells. The differential diagnosis includes infective endocarditis, idiopathic thrombocytopenia, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia with thrombosis, systemic lupus erythematosus, non-bacterial thrombotic endocarditis and disseminated intravascular coagulation. 

The clinical features and differential diagnosis of acute stroke... 

In the vast majority of strokes, there is the sudden onset of focal symptoms without any other features. However, it is important to take a detailed history since occasionally there may be a more gradual onset of symptoms, thus widening the differential diagnosis, or there may be points in the history suggesting an underlying cause for the stroke or an indication that the presentation is of a condition mimicking stroke (Table 9.1). 

In younger patients, dissection of the carotid and/ or vertebral arteries must be included in the differential diagnosis of acute stroke [101-103]. In 1999, Oelerich [104] reported satisfactory results with MRA... 

Dissection of the carotid or vertebral artery system can be initiated by chiropractic manipulation of the cervical spine such maneuvers should probably be avoided in dialysis patients (Schievink, 2001). In addition, some cases of apparent acute stroke in dialysis patients will be due to subdural hanatoma, which must always be considered in the differential diagnosis of stroke in dialysis patients. 

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