Clinical event adjudication: Stroke

For the list of clinical event adjudication definitions, click here Editors-in-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [mailto:mgibson@perfuse.org]

This chapter presents stroke definitions used in the Clinical Event Committee adjudication processes. These definitions are current as of 3/26/10.

=Stroke= Stroke is an acute symptomatic episode of neurological dysfunction attributed to a vascular cause.

Classification

 * A. Ischemic Stroke
 * Ischemic stroke is defined as an acute symptomatic episode of focal cerebral, spinal, or retinal dysfunction caused by an infarction of central nervous system tissue.


 * B. Hemorrhagic Stroke
 * Hemorrhagic stroke is defined as an acute symptomatic episode of focal or global cerebral or spinal dysfunction caused by a nontraumatic intraparenchymal, intraventricular, or subarachnoid hemorrhage.


 * C. Undetermined Stroke
 * Undetermined stroke is defined as a stroke with insufficient information to allow categorization as A or B.

Stroke Disability
Stroke disability should be measured by a reliable and valid scale in all cases. For example, the modified Rankin Scale may be used to address this requirement: