My dad was just admitted to the E.R. He has had an intense throbbing pain in his neck and head. He went to a chiropractor about it 2 days ago without any luck. Today he went to get X-rays and they immediately rushed him into the E.R thinking that he has blocked arteries in his brain? What could be some other possibilities?
I read your question carefully, and I understand your concern. If the imaging results like CT or MRI show that there is a blocked blood vessel then the diagnosis has been made, there is no reason to look for other possibilities. Now you should concentrate on what originated this blocked vessel. Looking at your description of pain in the neck and head, one possibility would be a cervical artery dissection, a rupture in the wall of a blood vessel, with accumulation of blood inside the wall which can lead to narrowing of the vessel lumen as well as formation of thrombi which can cause a stroke. Of course this possibility should be confirmed with imaging of neck vessels apart from the head. Other possibilities may be heart issues leading to formation of thrombi which enter the circulation, block a vessel and cause a stroke, or atherosclerosis of neck vessels which again can form thrombi which can lead to stroke. I hope to have been of help.