A 56 - year - old man with a history of poorly controlled hypeension presents to the accident and emergency depament with sudden onset weakness on the left side. What initial investigation would you request?

In emergency condition CT scan of the head is preferred over MRI. This condition ideally should be combined with a post - contrast study either to look for perfusion defects in ischaemia or an aneurysm in cases of SAH. D-dimer assay is usually done in condition that causes inappropriate blood clots, such as deep vein thrombosis (DVT), pulmonary embolism (PE), or disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), and to monitor treatment of DIC and excessive clotting conditions.