clinical features
Last reviewed 01/2018
A sudden-onset hemiparesis in a person over 60 years old is likely to be a stroke.
Focal brain damage may reflect the distribution of the affected artery, but often collateral supplies make the diagnosis of the lesion site difficult based on the clinical features.
Different clinical features may indicate whether the lesion was in the cerebral hemispheres; at a site in the region of the basal ganglia, thalamus and pons - Lacunar syndromes; or a brainstem infarction.