1. Understanding Stroke Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Stroke Quiz
3. Slideshow: Atrial Fibrillation Causes, Tests, and Treatment

Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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The symptoms of stroke and TIA are the same and depend upon the particular region of the brain that is affected. But while a stroke is permanent, a TIA by definition resolves its own.

• Neurologic deficits appear suddenly and can affect the ability to move or feel on one side of the body.
  
  
• Speech and vision can be affected.
  
  
• The affected person may experience confusion, difficulty saying words, or the inability to follow commands.

Because the brain is a large organ, the whole side of an individual's body doesn't need to be affected. Symptoms may be limited to an arm or leg or part of the face. The deficits are also grouped based on the anatomy of the brain. As an example, loss of speech (aphasia) is associated with weakness or numbness on the right side of the body, since speech is controlled by the left of the brain. These symptoms are associated with problems in the anterior circulation from the carotid arteries.

TIAs, like stroke, may have large, obvious neurologic defects like paralysis. However, the symptoms may also be subtle, such as numbness or burning of a limb, or clumsiness with the use of hand or while walking.

If the cerebellum is affected because of issues with the vertebral arteries, the symptoms are much different. Symptoms of posterior circulation stroke or cerebrovascular accident include:

• dizziness,
  
  
• loss of balance and coordination, and
  
  
• trouble walking.

Drop attacks, in which the patient falls suddenly without warning, with or without losing consciousness, occur as a result of a TIA to the base of the brain.

Amaurosis Fugax is a specific type of TIA where there is sudden loss of vision in one eye that resolves spontaneously. It occurs when debris from the carotid artery on the same side occludes one of the ophthalmic arteries and stops blood supply to the retina (the nerve complex in the back of the eye that interprets light and visual signals).

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