Stroke. Computed tomography (CT) scan of an axial section through the brain of a 58-year-old patient, showing the damage (black) caused 24 hours after a cerebral infarction. A stroke, or cerebrovascular accident (CVA), is the rapid loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. A cerebral infarction is an ischemic stroke, whereby lack of blood flow occurs when a blood vessel that supplies a part of the brain becomes blocked, or leakage occurs outside the vessel walls. Here, the right middle cerebral artery (MCA) was affected, causing damage to the areas of the brain supplied by that artery and leading to total paralysis of the arm, leg, and trunk on the left side of the body.