Correlation of clinical and CT scan diagnosis of stroke

Objectives: to determine the frequency of correctly diagnosed type of stroke on clinical findings taking computed tomography as gold standard. materials and methods: a total of 80 patients with clinical diagnosis of cva,attending the accident and emergency department of ittefaq hospital lahore were enrolled in the study. after history taking and physical examination,clinical diagnosis was made and confirmed by c.t. scan as a gold standard. results: the age range was 30-90 years with the most common age group being 51-70 years. hemorrhagic stroke was found in 30% patients while ischemic stroke was found in 70% patients. out of 80 patients,clinical diagnosis was accurate in 63(79%) patients and inaccurate in 17(21%) patients. clinical accuracy was 83% in ischemic stroke and 67% in hemorrhagic stroke. conclusion: though the clinical diagnosis can be made with accuracy in a large number of patients,ct scan is mandatory before initiating treatment.