Thank you, Dr. Pradesh Ghimire, for a great presentation on “Imaging in Acute Stroke Care”! On Wednesday more than 35 participants of the Online Lecture Series had the chance to get some insight into what different kinds of imaging need to be done when treating stroke patients and how to evaluate these images and take them into consideration when deciding on a treatment strategy.
In stroke care CT and MRI imaging are important tools to detect vessel occlusions and evaluate the kind and severity of stroke. Dr. Pradesh started off by explaining that non-contrast CTs are used to differentiate between ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke and reveal early features of ischemic strokes. In this kind of imaging the ASPECT Score can be a useful tool to assess the extent of early ischemic changes in the MCA area and to evaluate the possible prognosis as a higher score is associated with better outcomes. Contrast CTs, Dr. Pradesh further elaborated, are used to diagnose occlusion of large intracranial vessels. Special multiphase CTAs can give radiologists an idea of the collateral blood flow while CT perfusion is used to evaluate the extent of ischemic core and the penumbra. More sensitive and specific than CTs are MRIs, however they are not absolutely necessary in acute stroke care. Dr. Pradesh explained that they are primarily used for the detection of hyperacute infarcts. However, MRIs can also give more information about the stroke characteristics like the Apparent Diffusion Coefficient (ADC) or the Time of Flight (TOF).
In addition to his great presentation Dr. Pradesh shared this resource for CT imaging: https://www.angels-initiative.com/resources/ct-imaging. The Angels Website provides free CT Training options (WOW-CT Training) and a CT checklist. As soon as you sign up for free you can benefit from all these resources.
Thank you, Dr. Pankaj, for a great lecture! Thank you to all participants for interesting questions and a lively discussion!