Computed Tomography Findings in Acute Stroke Patients: A Hospital-Based Cross-Sectional Study

Introduction: Stroke, or "cerebrovascular accident," is a medical disorder in which the brain's cells die due to insufficient blood flow. Successful stroke treatment varies according to the type of stroke, whether an infarct or a bleed, and it can be lethal without brain damage. Objective: The study aim was to compare clinical stroke diagnosis with computed tomography (CT) scan findings to determine stroke type (hemorrhagic or Ischemic). Method: This was a cross-sectional type of observational study conducted at the Department of Radiology & Imaging in Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital, Sylhet, Bangladesh from 01 March 2023 to 01 June 2024. A total of 240 patients from the inclusion criteria were taken for the study purpose. Data of clinical diagnosis were compared individually with CT findings. Result: Out of 240 patients, 168 were males and 72 were females and they were in the age range of 20-80 years. Clinically 104 patients were suspected to have cerebral infarction, 76 intracerebral bleeds and 60 indeterminate. CT scan of the brain showed 116 cerebral infarcts, 84 intracerebral hemorrhages, 12 space-occupying lesions and 28 hemorrhagic infarcts. Conclusion: The study found that CT should be the first thing to do when a person has a stroke because it's easy, quick, and accurate at figuring out what happened.