- Symptoms of stroke
- Imaging to confirm stroke and stroke type- should be obtained within 20 minutes of arriving to the emergency department
- Non-contrast computed tomography (CT) of the head
- Widely available and quick to obtain
- Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) may detect ischemia in cases of a TIA or minor ischemic stroke
- In an acute setting an MRI is time consuming and a CT is easier to obtain and can be conducted faster
- Differentiate between an ischemic versus hemorrhagic stroke
- CT may not detect a small/minor stroke
- A normal CT result/reading in the setting of a minor stroke does not include nor exclude ischemia
