Post-Stroke Evaluation And Treatment

Patients who have experienced a suspected stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) need to be thoroughly evaluated to determine the cause of the event and how best to prevent a recurrence, as well as to gauge the neurological impacts of the event in terms of the patient’s memory, cognitive functioning, vision, balance, mobility, speech, muscle strength and motor skills. This is accomplished via a complete medical history along with a physical and neurological exam, blood tests, CT or MRI imaging studies and a variety of other possible diagnostic tests such as carotid ultrasound, transesophageal echocardiogram and cerebral angiogram. When a patient is being evaluated for their ability to operate a motor vehicle following the occurrence of a stroke, three simple, in-office tests can be administered. The first is a Road Sign Recognition test to confirm the patient’s visual comprehension. The second test is a “Compass” task, which evaluates both visual-spatial abilities and mental acuity, while the third test is called a Trail Making Test (b) and measures visual scanning and visual-motor tracking skills.