LAUSR

Dear Editor, Numerous patients present to the emergency department with acute neurological symptoms, which closely resemble stroke and are usually referred as stroke mimics. The diagnostic differentiation from acute cerebral ischemia is crucial, given the narrow therapeutic time window for reperfusion therapies and in particular intravenous thrombolysis (IVT). Perfusion imaging (either CT or MR) which has been widely used in recent randomized controlled clinical trials of mechanical thrombectomy (MT) [1] and IVT in the extended time window [2, 3] can promptly identify stroke mimics and optimize therapeutic management. We present two cases that exemplify the potential of perfusion imaging in the acute setting, to recognize stroke mimics and avert IVT.