help with primary diagnosis

[alsn]

Hey all. This is my first time posting on this site. I am currently a first semester nursing student. I'm needing help with my clinical paperwork. My last clinical for this semester is tomorrow. Yay! We have a sheet we have to fill out about medical diagnosis information. We have to have a primary and secondary medical diagnosis and fill out the pathophysiology for each. I wanted to use "late effects of cerebrovascular disease" for my primary diagnosis and dementia for my secondary diagnosis. He has many other medical diagnosis, but these seem to me to be what is most affecting him at this time. However, i'm trying to research, "late effects of cerebrovascular disease" and it seems that this is the same as late affects for cva. Are these the same things? Also, how am I supposed to fill out the pathophysiology, usual diagnostic tests, usual treatment, and prognosis on this. Would it just be better to use CVA as my primary diagnosis?

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

cva is not the same as cerebrovascular disease. you could have a stroke after trauma, for example. cerebrovascular disease can cause a cva, though it can have effects on the brain which are not due to stroke. i think you're better off using cerebrovascular disease as your primary problem, because it can lead to lots of things.

[alsn]

So his cerebrovascular disease is probably the reason he has had multiple microcerebral infarcts. I'm trying to research cerebrovascular disease and I can't find a good resource. Every website I go to lumps cerebrovascular disease and CVA into one thing.

[nurseprnRN, BSN, RN]

bingo. look up multiinfarct dementia.

[alsn]

Thank you so much! It's the end of the semester and I'm just now really starting to see how a lot of the medical diagnoses are intertwined and related along with risk factors, etc. It really is interesting...and sad.