NeuroradiologyHemiplegia
total paralysis on one side of the body. It is the consequence of an insult involving the pyramidal system (usually
vascular,
ischaemic or haemorrhagic, but also traumatic or infectious), from the motor cortex to the internal
capsule.
Immediately after the stroke a period of flaccid paralysis ensues. After a period of days to weeks tone and reflexes return and increase and the situation resolves into spastic hemiplegia or hemiparesis. Hemiparesis more properly indicates a less severe condition that hemiplegia, with return of some voluntary movements.
GS