Some relationships between heart attacks and paralytic strokes.

When a patient suddenly collapses and loses consciousness, it is reasonable to assume that both the heart and the brain are acutely disordered. In as many as one case in three in which permanent paralysis occurs, cerebral softening rather than hemorrhage is observed at autopsy. Because there is no proof that in the early stages of stroke the changes are irreversible, and because in a significant proportion of cases the heart is simultaneously injured, both stellate ganglion block and anticoagulant therapy seem justified.