Subacute neurological syndromes.

Sudden onset neurological syndromes are almost always vascular but there is a wide range of causes of subacute onset neurological syndromes. Most diagnoses will become clear from clinical assessment and, depending on presentation, computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging of the brain or spine and cerebrospinal fluid examination. When investigations have proved negative, paraneoplastic neurological diseases and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease should be considered.