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.
2026 AHA/ASA Stroke Guideline: What Actually Changed.
What the 2026 AHA/ASA stroke guideline actually changes at the bedside — tenecteplase first, wider thrombolysis and thrombectomy windows, relaxed BP and glucose targets, and the first pediatric recommendations. A vascular neurologist's plain-English read.
GuidelinesCanadian TIA Score vs ABCD2.
What the Canadian TIA Score measures, why its 13 variables predict 7-day stroke risk better than ABCD2, why vertigo subtracts points, and the workup setting it assumes.
Clinical Review§ 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