To determine the most appropriate treatment for your stroke, your emergency care team needs to evaluate the type of stroke you’ve had and the areas of your brain affected by the stroke. They also need to rule out other possible causes of your symptoms, such as a brain tumor or a drug reaction.

Tests

Several kinds of tests will help determine what kind of stroke you had and help identify what may have caused it.

• Bedside swallow test
• Blood tests
• Carotid ultrasound or transcranial Doppler
• Catheter cerebral angiography
• Computed tomography (CT) scan, including CT angiography (evaluation of the arteries to the head and neck) and CT perfusion imaging (evaluation of blood flow to the brain tissue)
• Echocardiogram
• Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI/MRA)

Once your care team reviews your tests and determines what type of stroke you’re having, they can choose the best treatment for you.