A stroke causing contralateral hemiparesis, sensory loss, and aphasia when the dominant hemisphere is involved indicates occlusion of which artery?

• A. Middle Cerebral Artery
• B. Posterior Cerebral Artery
• C. Anterior Cerebral Artery
• D. Basilar Artery

Answer: (A)

Language-dominant involvement with a stroke points to the middle cerebral artery territory. This artery supplies the lateral surfaces of the hemisphere, including the primary motor and sensory areas for the face and arm and, in the dominant hemisphere, key language regions like Broca’s and Wernicke’s areas. Occlusion on the dominant side causes contralateral face and arm weakness and sensory loss, along with aphasia due to disruption of language centers. Other arteries produce different patterns: anterior cerebral artery strokes mainly affect the leg and can alter personality or behavior; posterior cerebral artery strokes typically cause visual field deficits; basilar artery strokes affect brainstem and long-tract symptoms. So the combination of contralateral hemiparesis/sensory loss with aphasia best fits middle cerebral artery occlusion.