Introduction
A blood clot is called a “thrombus” in medicine and can form either in a vein or an artery. A blood clot consists of blood platelets (thrombocytes), connective tissue components and deposited blood fats. In an artery, a blood clot is usually caused by damage to the vessel wall, as is the case with high blood pressure. If the blood clot is formed in a vein, the reason is usually a higher tendency to clot or altered flow properties within the blood vessel. A blood clot in the head clogs the affected vessel and disrupts the blood supply to the brain, resulting in a stroke, which is medically correctly called an “ischemic stroke” or “ischemic insult”.
Symptoms
These are the main symptoms of a blood clot in the head or a stroke. The most important characteristics are also explained in more detail below.
- Hemiplegia with center of gravity of one arm/leg
- Sudden speech disorder
- Emotional disorders on the affected side of the body
- Perception disorders of one side of the body and the surroundings of this side.
The patient “forgets” that this page exists
- Visual disorders
- Swindle
- Eye rotation to the affected side of the brain (focal view)
- Headaches
- Dysphagia
- Loss of consciousness
- Respiratory Disorder
Headaches can occur as an accompanying symptom of a blood clot in the head. About a quarter of patients who suffer a stroke caused by a blood clot in one of the brain-supplying arteries experience severe headache shortly before or at the onset of the remaining stroke symptoms. But a blood clot in the venous system of the brain, the so-called sinus veins, can also cause headaches.
Such a blood clot is called sinus vein thrombosis, which results in a backlog of blood and nerve fluid in the head. This congestion leads to a swelling of the brain, which causes headaches. Other symptoms of sinus vein thrombosis include visual disturbances, swelling of the face, epileptic seizures and psychological changes.
Difficulties with speech are divided into different groups in medicine. There is the motor aphasia (Broca’s aphasia), which describes a problem with speaking. The patients understand what they are told, but may have difficulty finding words.
In this type of speech difficulty, the center in the brain that controls speech formation (Broca’s area) is damaged. The patient therefore talks with great effort in very short sentences. The second category includes the so-called sensory aphasia (Wernicke’s aphasia).
Here, the exact opposite is true: the speech muscles function perfectly, but the center in the brain responsible for understanding speech (Wernicke area) does not function. Both Broca’s and Wernicke’s area are located in the left hemisphere of the brain in most patients and can be cut off from the blood supply by a blood clot in the head and damaged by the lack of oxygen. Another consequence of a blood clot in the head can be paralysis of the speech muscles without affecting the two centers for speech understanding and speech production.
It is important to note that although patients who suffer from a speech disorder due to a blood clot in the head have problems producing and understanding speech, they do not have a mental disability. Nausea and vomiting can be an indication of a blood clot in the head (or a cerebral hemorrhage), accompanied by other symptoms typical of a stroke. Possible mechanisms are increased intracranial pressure, which can trigger sudden nausea and vomiting.
If the brain stem is damaged by a blood clot in the head, vomiting may occur because this is where the vomiting center is located. Nausea and vomiting can also occur as a result of dizziness during and after a stroke caused by a blood clot in the head. Sudden dizziness may be the symptom of a blood clot in the head.
In this type of stroke, the parts of the brain that are responsible for balance are no longer supplied with blood. This dizziness can feel as if the room is spinning (rotational vertigo) or as if the floor under your feet is shaking (swaying vertigo). Another form of vertigo is the feeling of going down in an elevator.
These vertigo attacks usually occur with an uncertain gait pattern.In medicine, cramps are divided into generalized seizures that affect the whole body and focal seizures that affect only one area of the body. In generalized seizures the patient is not conscious, in focal seizures he usually does not lose consciousness. Brain spasms are caused by functional disorders of the brain cells.
If there is a blood clot in the head, the blood flow to the nerve cells is disturbed. Occasionally cramps can then be the result. If the blood clot in the head interrupts the blood supply to the brain parts, paralysis occurs.
If the A. cerebri media (middle cerebral artery) is blocked, hemiplegia occurs, which affects the arm and face most severely. If the anterior cerebral artery (A. cerebri anterior) is affected, the leg is most severely affected. If smaller vessels in the end current area of the deep perforating arteries (connections between superficial and deep cerebral vessels) are blocked, hemiplegia also occurs in varying degrees.
Vision problems caused by a blood clot in the head can occur when blood vessels that supply blood to either the eye, the optic nerve or the visual cortex (the area of the brain responsible for vision) are blocked. Specifically, these are the ophthalmic artery (which supplies blood to the eye) and the posterior cerebral artery. A blood clot in the ophtalmic artery causes complete blindness in one eye.
A blood clot in the posterior cerebral artery in the part that supplies the visual path (nerve fibers from the optic nerve to the visual cortex) leads to the so-called homonymous hemianopsia: In both eyes, either the right or the left part of the visual field goes blind. If the part that supplies the visual cortex is affected, patients can become completely blind. Another possible visual disturbance caused by a blood clot in the head is the seeing of double images.
This topic might also be of interest to you: Dizziness and visual disturbances “Tinnitus” describes a ringing in the ears that only the affected patient hears. Tinnitus can occur on one side only or on both sides. These noises are perceived as humming, whistling or hissing, for example.
The exact cause of tinnitus has not yet been clarified. Circulatory disorders caused by small blood clots in the vessels that supply the hair cells (the nerve cells in the ear) are discussed as a possible cause of tinnitus. Hiccups are among the possible symptoms of a blood clot in the head.
However, it is never the only symptom of a blood clot or stroke. Only if other symptoms such as sudden paralysis, speech disorders, headaches, etc. occur at the same time, hiccups should be considered a symptom of a blood clot.
Normally, hiccups are harmless and disappear on their own after a short time. Many mental processes are controlled in the frontal brain. If its blood supply is interrupted, a blood clot in the head can lead to changes in the psyche.
If the anterior cerebral artery (anterior cerebral artery) is blocked, the patient’s inner drive can be disrupted. Occlusion of the posterior cerebral artery can also lead to psychological changes. In general, a blood clot in the head can disturb consciousness and limit the patient’s perception.
