The list of causes of stroke and intracranial haemorrhage can be massive. Causes of ischaemic stroke have thus far been neglected, but in Question 25 from the first paper of 2014, the college asks for differentials to explain the CT finding of "a hyperdensity in keeping with an intracerebral haematoma".
This classification can be made even more granular, but for the purposes of this chapter these categories are sufficient.
Ischaemic stroke (80%)
Haemorrhagic stroke (20%)
This can be divided further into small or large vessel disease. Of course, systemic hypoperfusion is possible as a cause.
Causes of large vessel stroke
Causes of small vessel stroke
A better way to name this category would be "causes of intracardiac thrombus". For stroke purposes, it doesn't matter whether its an infective or non-infective embolus.
A list of causes should include:
The causes of a spontaneous intracerebral haemorrhage are:
This list of differentials was retrieved from an excellent 2001 NEJM article by Adnan Qureshi.
Risk factors:
Aetiological causes:
Inherited disorders to look for:
Oh's Intensive Care manual: Chapter 51 (pp. 568) Acute cerebrovascular complications by Bernard Riley and Thearina de Beer. This chapter of Oh's has the distinction of having very few tables in it - there are only two, for an extremely long block of text.
Qureshi, Adnan I., et al. "Spontaneous intracerebral hemorrhage." New England Journal of Medicine 344.19 (2001): 1450-1460.
Caplan, L. R. "Basic Pathology, Anatomy, and Pathophysiology of Stroke." Caplan’s Stroke A Clinical Approach (2009): 23-4.
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