Assignment: Neurological Disorder Concept Map
Assignment: Neurological Disorder Concept Map
Concept Map Template
Primary Diagnosis: _____Stroke______________________________________________________
1. Describe the pathophysiology of the primary diagnosis in your own words. What are the patient’s risk factors for this diagnosis?
Pathophysiology of Primary Diagnosis
Stroke is a condition that develops from intracerebral bleeding or vessel occlusions. Vessel occlusion leads to ischemia secondary to the decreased blood flow to the brain. Brain changes either due to intracerebral bleeding or vessel occlusion result in several brain processes. The changes include loss of cell homeostasis, energy failure, acidosis, excitotoxicity, changes in cell calcium levels, and increased free radical-mediated toxicity. The additional changes include the production of arachidonic acid products, disrupted blood-brain barrier integrity, brain infiltration by leukocytes, and activation of cytokine-mediated cytotoxicity (Murphy & Werring, 2020). These changes alter the brain functions, hence, the symptoms seen among patients with stroke.
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Causes Risk Factors (genetic/ethnic/physical)
The causes of stroke are varied. They include arterial dissection, atherosclerosis, artery-to-artery embolism, lipophyalinosis, valvular heart disease, arrhythmia, and cardiomyopathy (Tadi & Lui, 2024). Rupture of small arteries, hypertension, coagulopathies, and rupture aneurysm cause hemorrhagic stroke. There are several risk factors for stroke. They include hypertension, heart disease, diabetes, smoking, use of oral contraceptives, a history of transient ischemic attack, hyperlipidemia, physical inactivity, obesity, alcohol abuse, cardiac arrhythmias, and structural abnormalities of the heart (Powers William J., 2020). The other risk factors include older age, race, gender, genetics, family history, and a history of a stroke.
2. What are the patient’s signs and symptoms for this diagnosis? How does the diagnosis impact other body systems and what are the possible complications?
Signs and Symptoms – Common presentation How does the diagnosis impact each body system? Complications?
The common signs and symptoms of stroke include difficulty speaking, confusion, and difficulty understanding speech. Patients also usually report sudden weakness or numbness, severe headache, difficulty seeing, walking, and maintaining balance (Stinear et al., 2020). Patients might also have facial drooping, paralysis, and seizures. Stroke affects the normal brain functioning. This includes functions such as those involved in the coordination of body movement balance and speech. Stroke is associated with several complications. They include intracranial hemorrhage, angioedema, major systemic hemorrhage, brain edema, recurrent seizures, hyperreflexia, pyrexia, hyponatremia, cardiac dysfunction, aspiration, hyperglycemia, and deep venous thrombosis (Tadi & Lui, 2024).
3. What are other potential diagnosis that present in a similar way to this diagnosis (differentials)?
Some of the differential diagnoses that should be considered in stroke include seizures, sepsis, brain tumors, benign headache disorder, syncope, conversion disorder, subdural hematoma, brain abscess, and encephalitis (Murphy & Werring, 2020).
4. What diagnostic tests or labs would you order to rule out the differentials for this patient or confirm the primary diagnosis?
Neuroimaging is important for stroke diagnosis. Computed tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) should be performed to rule out stroke or its differential diagnoses. CT angiography should be performed in patients whose symptoms started within six hours of being brought to the hospital. Blood glucose levels should be maintained to rule out hyperglycemia and hypoglycemia, which can mimic acute ischemia attacks (Powers William J., 2020). A complete blood count should also be performed to rule out causes such as sepsis and anemia.
5. What treatment options would you consider? Include possible referrals and medications.
Treatment for stroke includes maintenance of the patent airway, oxygenation, blood pressure control initiation of fibrinolytic therapy, antipyretics for hyperthermia, alteplase, and mechanical thrombectomy. Antiplatelet therapy should be initiated within 24-48 hours of symptom onset. Platelet transfusion might be considered for patients treated with aspirin or requiring emergency neurosurgery (Tadi & Lui, 2024). Surgical management improves outcomes in hemorrhagic stroke.
References
Murphy, S. JX., & Werring, D. J. (2020). Stroke: Causes and clinical features. Medicine, 48(9), 561–566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mpmed.2020.06.002
Powers William J. (2020). Acute Ischemic Stroke. New England Journal of Medicine, 383(3), 252–260. https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMcp1917030
Stinear, C. M., Lang, C. E., Zeiler, S., & Byblow, W. D. (2020). Advances and challenges in stroke rehabilitation. The Lancet Neurology, 19(4), 348–360. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30415-6
Tadi, P., & Lui, F. (2024). Acute Stroke. In StatPearls. StatPearls Publishing. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK535369/
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In this exercise, you will complete a MindMap Template to gauge your understanding of this week’s content. Select one of the possible topics provided to complete your MindMap Template.
Stroke
Multiple sclerosis
Transient Ischemic Attack
Myasthenia gravis
Headache
Seizure disorders
Head injury
Spinal cord injury
Inflammatory diseases of the musculoskeletal system
Parkinson’s
Alzheimer’s
