Brain Injury Insider Episode 120: What Is The Risk of Stroke After a Traumatic Brain Injury?

The increased risk of stroke following any type of traumatic brain injury is well known.A new comprehensive review of the medical literature in an article entitled Risk of Stroke After a Traumatic Brain Injury, a systematic review and meta-analysis published in the ACTA Neurological Journal this November, confirms this link.Traumatic brain injury is a leading cause of death and disability in the United States and is associated with increased risk of neurological disorders including seizure disorders, Parkinson’s Disease, ALS, dementia, and Alzheimer’s disease. This comprehensive literature review confirms the relationship between traumatic brain injury and stroke.  The review found across the spectrum of all types of TBI, mild, moderate, and severe, patients were at an increased risk of both ischemic strokes caused by a blood clot in the brain and hemorrhagic stroke caused by bleeding within the brain. This risk of stroke is at the highest levels in the first three months following any traumatic brain injury pointing to the need for careful monitoring of all patients suffering TBI for the signs and symptoms of stroke.  Although the risk then goes down, it is not eliminated, and patients still need to be monitored.  In patients who may have developed a carotid or vertebral artery dissection, bleeding in an artery of the neck following neck trauma, in patients taking anti-coagulation medication, blood thinners which increases the risk of bleeding, and in the elderly, monitoring for stroke is essential following a traumatic brain injury.  Watch this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/V-5B03pGodEDe Caro & Kaplen, LLP are nationally recognized experts in stroke malpractice and misdiagnosis cases https://brainlaw.com/medical-malpractice/stroke-misdiagnosis/Brain Injury Insider is a weekly podcast by The Brain Injury Law Firm ®, De Caro & Kaplen, LLP.Host Michael Kaplen is a passionate advocate of the rights of brain injury survivors, and has been fighting on their behalf for over 40 years.De Caro & Kaplen, LLP228 E. 45th Street, Suite 1100, New York, NY 10017Toll Free: (866) 272-4652e: [email protected]