A blocked blood vessel can have risky consequences, especially if it occurs in the vessels of the brain and heart. If left untreated, cerebrovascular occlusion can lead to stroke and many other serious conditions. If the stroke has blocked the brain vessel, problems such as loss of sensation in the arms and legs, numbness and speech impairment can occur. Therefore, it is very important to diagnose cerebrovascular occlusion quickly.
Cerebrovascular diseases occur in the form of cerebrovascular occlusion, cerebrovascular narrowing or blockage or bleeding from the cerebral vessels, disrupting brain functions, often leading to severe disability or sometimes even life-threatening.
What are the symptoms of cerebrovascular occlusion?
Cerebrovascular occlusion; Depending on the utmost diversity, complexity and importance of brain functions in the organism, extremely diverse, complex and severe clinical pictures occur in cerebrovascular diseases. In some patients, the symptoms and signs may be very mild, ambiguous, undiagnosed or overlooked due to the mild course of the disease and its correction and elimination in the body in a short period of time; in some patients, sudden death may also occur due to the rapid and severe course of the disease. Nevertheless, in the majority of patients, depending on the affected vessel, whether there is blockage or bleeding, the degree of the disease, and certain factors, the symptoms of cerebrovascular occlusion can be listed as follows
- Headache
- Nausea and vomiting
- Loss of strength in the arm and/or leg in one half of the body, sensory disturbances
- Gait impairment or speech impairment
- Visual disturbances
- Epileptic seizures
- Comprehension/perception - memory disorders
- Psychological changes
- Abnormalities in thinking, affect and behavior
Cerebrovascular occlusion can also cause systemic symptoms from other systems (e.g. cardiologic; hypotension-hypertension, heart rhythm disturbances or respiratory dysfunctions) that affect the whole body.
What Causes Cerebrovascular Occlusion?
Cerebrovascular occlusion (and bleeding) should be seen as a condition that occurs as a result of a primary disease of the brain and/or cerebrovasculature, or as a result of many diseases of other systems and organs.
Cerebrovascular occlusion can occur in different places in the brain, in different vessels or vascular systems in the cerebrovascular tree, in different forms (e.g. blockage by a defect in the vessel itself, thrombosis, or when a fragment of a blood clot breaks off from elsewhere, e.g. from a blood clot in the cavities of the heart or in the veins of the neck, and blocks it) and can occur to varying degrees.
The causes ofcerebrovascular diseases and related cerebrovascular occlusion must be considered in a very broad spectrum, because cerebrovascular occlusion is the result of many different diseases. These can be occlusion of a blood vessel, but it is important to know which blood vessel is occluded and how thick, large, medium or small, and whether the occlusion originates in the blood vessel segment or elsewhere.If the moisture gains or the problem is bleeding, the location, size, form and affected areas of the bleeding in the brain are important for diagnosis and understanding the underlying causes of the disease causing the cerebrovascular occlusion.
In cerebrovascular occlusion, firstly, whether the condition/disease is a vascular problem or not, secondly, whether the vascular disease is a vascular occlusion or a hemorrhage, and if it is a hemorrhage, its location in the brain, its size, the type of bleedingIt is imperative to look at the causes or, if it is a cerebrovascular occlusion type of disease, whether the occlusion is in the arteries or veins and which ones, and to what extent and due to what, to make a differential diagnosis within the broad category of causes, and at the same time to organize and carry out treatment in a dynamic manner. In general, the causes of cerebrovascular occlusion can be listed as follows
- Brain and brain vessel diseases
- Brain arteriosclerosis
- Infections, traumas tumors
- Fibromuscular dysplasias
- Moyamoya disease
- Systemic diseases (hypertension, diabetes, high levels of lipids/cholesterol in the blood
- Congenital/genetic metabolic diseases
- Heart diseases
- Hematologic diseases
- Various medicines
- Tobacco use, narcotic-stimulant use
- Involvement of rheumatologic diseases
- Radiation exposure
This means that a detailed anamnesis and investigation of the patient's brain and nervous system, as well as the whole body in the case of cerebrovascular occlusion, is essential.
How is cerebrovascular occlusion diagnosed?
In the treatment of cerebrovascular occlusion, or in the treatment of cerebrovascular diseases in general, of course, the type of pathological process of the problem, for example, in the form of occlusion or bleeding, which vessels and vascular structure are involved, when the occlusion or bleeding occurred, the degree of the disease, the patient'sMany determining factors, such as rheological and systemic status, concomitant diseases and medications, are important in formulating the treatment strategy. Diagnosis of cerebrovascular occlusion is as follows;
- Doppler ultrasonography
- Computed Tomography or Magnetic Resonance (MRI)
How is a blocked carotid artery treated?
If a person with ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack has more than 70% stenosis in the carotid artery, this stenosis should be opened with a surgical operation called carotid endarterectomy or with a stent. If these procedures are performed within the first 2 weeks after the stroke, a good result is achieved. However, in order for these treatments to be applied, the stroke must not have caused disability. Treatment of carotid artery stenosis that does not cause discomfort should be decided by specialist physicians after detailed observation and evaluation of many factors such as age, gender and different disorders of the person. Diagnosis and treatment in such patients are very dynamic, fast and must be carried out together. One of the most important factors determining the treatment and outcome of the patient is that the patient is delivered to the hospital as early as possible, within a time frame measured in minutes to seconds. The methods of treatment of cerebrovascular occlusion are as follows;
- Drug therapy, specific medication
- Surgical treatment
- Various applications to open the vessel lumen
The treatment of cerebrovascular occlusion requires a multifaceted, multidisciplinary, well-equipped and specialized hospital and team. In this regard, such patients should be transported to appropriate centers as early as possible before the treatment of cerebrovascular occlusion. This is of great importance for a good prognosis and outcome in the treatment of cerebrovascular occlusion.