A stroke occurs when the blood supply to part of the brain is suddenly interrupted or when a blood vessel in the brain bursts, spilling blood into the spaces surrounding brain cells. Brain cells die when they no longer receive oxygen and nutrients from the blood or there is sudden bleeding into or around the brain. The symptoms of a stroke include sudden numbness or weakness, especially on one side of the body; sudden confusion or trouble speaking or understanding speech; sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; sudden trouble with walking, dizziness, or loss of balance or coordination; or sudden severe headache with no known cause. There are two forms of stroke: ischemic – blockage of a blood vessel supplying the brain, and hemorrhagic – bleeding into or around the brain.
Generally there are three treatment stages for stroke: prevention, therapy immediately after the stroke, and post-stroke rehabilitation. Therapies to prevent a first or recurrent stroke are based on treating an individual’s underlying risk factors for stroke, such as hypertension, atrial fibrillation, and diabetes. Acute stroke therapies try to stop a stroke while it is happening by quickly dissolving the blood clot causing an ischemic stroke or by stopping the bleeding of a hemorrhagic stroke. Post-stroke rehabilitation helps individuals overcome disabilities that result from stroke damage. Medication or drug therapy is the most common treatment for stroke. The most popular classes of drugs used to prevent or treat stroke are antithrombotics (antiplatelet agents and anticoagulants) and thrombolytics.

Cutaneous, meaning having to do with the skin; subcutaneous means beneath or under the skin. For example, a cyst located under the skin is a subcutaneous cyst; a subcutaneous port is a tube surgically placed into a blood vessel and attached to a disk placed under the skin. It is used for the administration of intravenous fluids and drugs; also can be used to obtain blood samples.

Surgical incision below the lip, above the front teeth in the gum line, providing access to the nostril, or followed by splitting the palate (bone) to eventually access the sphenoid sinus.

The sella turcica is the bony structure at the base of the skull in which the pituitary gland rests.

Situated or occurring above the orbit (eye socket, orbital cavity) of the eye.

The sella turcica is the bony structure at the base of the skull in which the pituitary gland rests.

Water excretion is caused by the hyponatremia and hypo-osmolality resulting from innappropriate, continued secretion or action of the hormone despite normal or increased plasma volume.

Affecting the entire body rather than a single organ or body part. Systemic disorders such as high blood pressure and systemic diseases such as influenza affect the entire body. A systemic infection is an infection in the bloodstream. A localized infection is only affecting one body part or organ.