Are there different types of strokes?
There are two different types of stroke. There’s the ischemic type stroke where tPA would be indicated and then there are strokes where there are bleeding causes in the brain. People who are on anticoagulants and so forth may have bleeding causes of stroke and in those cases we definitely would not want to give tPA; however, they may have a surgical cause that may be fixable such as an aneurysm clipping or something interventional by the neurosurgeon that could be lifesaving or preventative as far as further damage to the brain. Q: So what is the first thing you do when somebody comes in and you suspect a stroke? A: Immediately on arrival to the ED, get the person to the CT scanner just because time is of the essence. The CT scan will tell us whether it is more of an ischemic type stroke versus a bleeding type stroke. The blood will show up very brightly on the CAT scan. This will be read by a radiologist on a quick basis and then we’ll institute treatment based on that and — but yes
