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How can we distinguish postictal Todd’s Paralysis from acute ischemic stroke in the prehospital and early hospital setting? Cover

How can we distinguish postictal Todd’s Paralysis from acute ischemic stroke in the prehospital and early hospital setting?

By: Natasza Blek  
Open Access
|Aug 2022

Abstract

Introduction

Acute Ischemic Stroke (AIS) is a medical emergency with focal neurological deficits. Todd’s paralysis (TP) is defined as a transient loss of motor ability and weakness that lasts hours to days and typically occurs after a focal seizure. Given the high prevalence of stroke and the rising availability of reperfusion therapies, timely detection of eligible patients is critical. Pre- and early-hospital differential diagnosis of various conditions with comparable clinical presentations is still difficult.

Aim

This review discusses Todd’s post-epileptic paralysis, one of the most common stroke mimics (SM), in pre- and early-hospital settings.

Discussion and Conclusions

The review covers the most critical findings on the TP and its emergency care as a common stroke mimic. Because TP is an excluding diagnosis, the most severe and curable illnesses must be recognised. Since thrombolysis is safe in SM, delaying or withholding medication may be improper when the advantages of treating a stroke mimic outweigh the dangers of treating a stroke mimic.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/joepi-2022-0002 | Journal eISSN: 2299-9728 | Journal ISSN: 2300-0147
Language: English
Submitted on: Apr 11, 2022
Accepted on: Aug 16, 2022
Published on: Aug 30, 2022
Published by: The Foundation of Epileptology
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Publication frequency: 2 issues per year

© 2022 Natasza Blek, published by The Foundation of Epileptology
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

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