Many Names for One Single Disease

One of the many stroke-like events which typically starts with a thunderclap headache is now called the reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome. Physicians have called this disease many names throughout the years, using everything from complicated terms such as "benign acute cerebral angiopathy" to simpler ones such as "migrainous vasospasm".

In essence, this clinical entity consists of a sudden spasm of one of the blood vessels that brings blood to the brain. The spasm can happen in one or more places along the blood vessel wall and it may, or may not lead to stroke or stroke like symptoms, including seizures.

If the spasm is only partial, there is typically no stroke symptoms other than a terrible headache. But if the spams is strong enough to completely interrupt blood flow, it may lead to ischemic and even hemorrhagic strokes.

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Migranous Infarction