I Was Just In The Hospital With Right-sided Weakness, Dizziness

Posted on Sat, 24 Nov 2018

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 24 Nov 2018 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : I was just in the hospital with right-sided weakness, dizziness, imbalance, high blood pressure, and the inability to write any letters. I was diagnosed with agraphia and TIA. My symptoms resolved in five hours. The doctor said I was not a stroke because no new lesion was seen on my CT scan. An MRI was not done because the doctor said the CT scan ruled out stroke. How could a TIA cause temporary agraphia, and what part of the brain would do this? I have had many strokes and TIAs before, but never agraphia.

Answered by Dr. Dr.Arnab (41 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
TIA is basically a ministroke only...

Detailed Answer:
Hello and Welcome to 'Ask A Doctor' service...
I've gone through your query in details...
I can understand your concern...

Well, first of all, please note that the TIA is basically a ministroke only. The blood supply to certain parts of the brain got cut off and restored afterwards, which actually explains why it's 'Temporary' in fact.

Handwriting is actually controlled by multiple areas in the brain (12 in fact). However, Left superior frontal, Left parietal, motor cortex areas are the main ones. Perhaps on previous occasions, those areas didn't get affected, so you didn't have agraphia before.

However, just because no new lesion was found can't rule out the stroke this time like that. CT scan although rules out acute (some of the immediate stroke), given your particular case, with so many recurrences and such distinctive features with resolution, I'd strongly recommend getting a full check-up (this includes MRI brain with MR-Angio of the neck as well as cerebral vessels along with cardiac workup: 12 lead ECG, 2D-echo cardiography and Doppler studies).

After all these investigations, the complete picture will be cleared (as to why is it happening again and again and what could possibly be done apart from the blood thinners to prevent it in future)...

Please discuss this with your doctor and proceed further...

Let me know if I can assist you further.

Take Care
Kind Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee