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Differential diagnosis

Last reviewed dd mmm yyyy. Last edited dd mmm yyyy

Authoring team

Diseases which may masquerade as stroke include:

  • meningitis
  • encephalitis - especially due to Herpes simplex
  • cerebral abscess
  • cerebral tumour - infrequently presents acutely
  • head injury
  • acute hypoglycaemia
  • Todd's - post-epileptic - paresis; resolves spontaneously within minutes or hours, or rarely, within days
  • chronic subdural haematoma
  • extradural haematoma - following trauma
  • hypertensive encephalopathy - symptoms develop gradually with neurological focal signs appearing as a late or absent phenomenon
  • demyelinating disease e.g. multiple sclerosis
  • cerebral malaria
  • cerebral lupus or other vasculitis

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