The case study concerns a 72-year-old female who developed an acute onset of slurred speech that abated within an hour. Head CT shows an old left-sided infarct in the temporal region, while CT of the carotids shows a 35% blockage on the left and 40% on the right. The purpose of the paper will be to explain the neurological and musculoskeletal pathophysiological processes contributing to the patient’s clinical features. In addition, it will address the racial/ethnic variables impacting physiological function and describe how these processes interact to affect the patient.
The patient’s symptoms can be attributed to Transient ischemic attack (TIA). TIA is characterized by transient neurologic symptoms without evidence of acute infarction. The patient had a TIA attack associated with a focal neurologic deficit and speech disturbance in a vascular territory because of an underlying cerebrovascular disease (Ortiz-Garcia et al., 2022). In this case, the patient has a history of stroke, which likely contributed to the symptoms. The neurological pathophysiology causing the patient’s symptoms is the transient disruption of arterial blood flow due to the narrowing of the carotid artery. Blockage of the carotids with a 35% blockage on the left and 40% on the right indicates carotid stenosis.
Plaque or fatty deposits along the inner arterial wall cause the narrowing of the carotids, which results in decreased blood flow to the brain (Perry et al., 2022). The insufficient blood flow to the brain contributed to the patient’s slurred speech, weakness on one side of the body with temporary paralysis, and gait disturbance. The patient’s motor impairment can be attributed to musculoskeletal pathophysiological changes (McCancem & Huether, 2019). The typical motor impairments in TIA include unilateral motor weakness, gait disturbance, limb paralysis, and loss of coordination (Kuriakose & Xiao, 2020). This explains why the patient slumped over to the right side and could not get to an upright position or stand.
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