Which statement best describes an ischemic stroke?

• A. Occurs when the cerebral artery is blocked by a clue or other foreign matter
• B. Occurs due to rupture of an artery
• C. Occurs due to trauma
• D. Occurs due to infection

Answer: (A)

An ischemic stroke happens when a cerebral artery becomes blocked by a clot or other material, cutting off blood flow to part of the brain. When blood flow is blocked, oxygen and glucose can't reach the brain tissue, so neurons begin to die within minutes. The symptoms reflect the brain region deprived of blood, and the main point is that the problem is an occlusion causing ischemia, not bleeding. The other scenarios describe different problems: a ruptured artery causes bleeding into the brain (hemorrhagic stroke), trauma causes injury from physical impact, and infection leads to inflammatory or infectious processes rather than a simple arterial blockage.