Cerebrovascular Accident: A Case Study

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before the onset of symptoms, so checking in and taking breaks will not only produce better results, but will also be greatly appreciated by the patient.
3a. There are several factors that make administering and accurately interpreting the results of neuropsychological tests difficult when dealing with stroke patients including visual neglect, aphasia, and hemiparesis. Visual neglect, or the loss of a section of one’s visual field often on one side, (right or left visual field), can occur in patients who have had a cerebrovascular accident (CVA) or a stroke. A stroke is caused by a clot that forms and occludes (blocks) an artery in the brain thus starving a portion of the brain of blood (which contains vital nutrients like glucose and oxygen). Although it is common for other blood vessels …show more content…

The clot will occlude an artery in one of the hemispheres of the brain and if it is in a specific location can affect one’s vision and cause visual neglect. Because of this it is important when administering visuospatial tests to take into account the fact that your patient may not physically be able to see part of the page or certain direction written on the page because he/she is blind in that portion of their visual field. This becomes particularly important when administering the Rey or Trails because it is possible that your patient will make mistakes not due to cognitive decline, but rather due to loss of sight. Another factor that can impact the results of neuropsychological testing is aphasia, or language deficits often associated with patient’s who had strokes. These patients may have trouble understanding directions or articulating their thoughts coherently which would make assessing their cognitive capacity and deficits difficult. Additionally, it may just be hard in general to communicate with the

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