ABSTRACT
The acute and long-term clinical picture of cerebrovascular disease varies depending on underlying neuropathology, nature of onset, course, location, duration, and extent of lesion. This chapter provides a resource for the clinical neuropsychologist on the diagnosis, evaluation, and management of stroke and related disorders. It also provides a review of relevant terminology, epidemiology, pathology and etiology, summarizes diagnostic work-up and treatment approaches, and discusses the future role of neuropsychology in relation to cerebrovascular disease. Cerebrovascular malformations include congenital and acquired lesions and their rupture constitutes a major cause of devastating hemorrhagic stroke, particularly in young people. An arteriovenous malformation (AVM) is a tangle of blood vessels that form an abnormal connection between arteries and veins without an intervening capillary network. Patients with AVMs may be asymptomatic until later in life, though symptom onset is often between the ages of 10 and 40. Mainstay treatment techniques for AVM include surgical excision, radiosurgery, or endovascular techniques.
