Physician-led stroke education
Stroke care, translated from code stroke to recovery.
Evidence-based stroke education for clinicians, trainees, patients, and families — written by Zaka Ahmed, MD, a vascular neurologist.
Fellowship-trained vascular neurologist · peer-reviewed author — publications on Google Scholar
Acute Stroke · Neuroimaging · Systems of Care
Stroke symptoms? Call 911.
Balance · Eyes · Face · Arm · Speech · Time. Any sudden change — do not wait. Note the time symptoms started.
§ 01 · Choose your path
Built for the people who treat stroke — and the families living through it.
Protocols, trials, imaging, workflow.
TNK and tPA decisions, thrombectomy criteria, ASPECTS and CT perfusion pearls, and the bedside checklists that keep a stroke service moving.
For Residents & FellowsNotes that write themselves.
Smart note builders for the stroke unit, neuro-ICU, on-call consult, neuro exam and procedures: answer bedside questions, copy an evidence-tagged impression and plan — plus the landmark trials behind every line.
For Patients & FamiliesPlain-language stroke guides.
Symptoms, hospital care, the first 24 hours, rehab and recovery, and how to prevent another stroke — written in language families can use.
§ 02 · Clinical Tools
Bedside-ready references.
NIHSS Pocket Guide
Full scale, scoring conventions, common pitfalls.
ProtocolTNK / tPA Eligibility
Inclusion, exclusion, and the soft-call cases.
ImagingASPECTS Visual Guide
Annotated slices and scoring walkthrough.
Decision treeThrombectomy Eligibility
Early, late-window, and large-core selection.
ChecklistStroke Workup Checklist
Etiology workup organized by TOAST mechanism.
ChecklistDischarge Prevention
Antithrombotic, BP, statin, and follow-up plan.
Risk scoreCHA2DS2-VASc Calculator
AFib stroke risk, scored across all eight factors.
Risk scoreHAS-BLED Calculator
Bleeding risk on anticoagulation, factor by factor.
Risk scoreABCD² Score for TIA
Two-day stroke risk after TIA, with interpretation.
§ 03 · Trial Library
Landmark stroke trials.
§ 04 · Latest stroke reviews
Long-form writing from the bedside and the literature.
Central post-stroke pain: when the stroke itself is what burns.
A vascular neurologist on central post-stroke pain (CPSP): why burning pain appears weeks after the stroke, how to separate it from shoulder pain and spasticity pain, the sensory exam that clinches it, and the evidence behind amitriptyline, lamotrigine, and gabapentinoids.
Stroke ComplicationsPost-Stroke Dysphagia: AHA Swallow Screening Guideline.
What the AHA/ASA stroke guideline says about dysphagia screening before oral intake (Class 1: nothing by mouth until a bedside swallow screen is passed), why dysphagia roughly triples aspiration pneumonia risk, how silent aspiration fools the bedside exam, and what the FOOD trials settled about NG versus PEG timing.
Stroke ComplicationsPost-stroke seizures: when one seizure means epilepsy — and when it doesn't.
A vascular neurologist walks through post-stroke seizures: the 7-day line between early and late seizures, why guidelines say no to prophylactic antiseizure drugs, when a single seizure equals epilepsy, and how to choose a drug that won't fight the DOAC.
Stroke ComplicationsPost-stroke spasticity: treat the problem, not the tone.
A vascular neurologist on spasticity after stroke: how to tell spasticity from contracture, when tone is a problem worth treating, the Modified Ashworth Scale, and the treatment ladder — stretching and splinting, botulinum toxin for focal spasticity, oral agents and their sedation tax, and intrathecal baclofen.
Stroke ComplicationsVascular cognitive impairment: the dementia stroke doctors can prevent.
A vascular neurologist's clinical guide to vascular cognitive impairment: the four lesion mechanisms, why the MoCA beats the MMSE here, when to test after a stroke, the depression and delirium look-alikes, and the honest evidence on prevention — blood pressure first.
Stroke Complications§ 05 · From the literature
Newly published in Stroke.
Titles and abstract excerpts are pulled automatically from the journal’s public feed and link to the publisher. They are not selected, reviewed, or endorsed by Dr. Ahmed.
§ 06 · For patients & families