Functional Brain Imaging in Stroke Patients

Abstract

Neuroimaging already plays a crucial role in the initial assessment of stroke patients. Different types of scans can reveal different properties of the brain that can be combined synergistically to guide initial treatment. In addition, these different modalities hold the potential to impact the long-term prognosis. While traditional structural scans locate the extent of the injury, other modalities such as functional imaging can help assess the extent of disruption which may be far more extensive than the core lesion visible on anatomical scans. For example, a brain region that appears structurally intact following injury may be functionally compromised because it has insufficient blood flow to function correctly (misery perfusion), has been disconnected from other regions, or relies on information from a distant region that has been injured. In all these cases, functional imaging can provide information not available from structural scans.