Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett's Minor Stroke: Medical Expert Explains Why and How It Might Have Happened

Dr. Sonu Ahluwalia tells E! News that those who have been in a car accident and have traumatic brain injury "are more likely" to have a stroke

There may be some answers to Kendra Wilkinson-Baskett's shocking ordeal.

As previously reported, E! News exclusively learned that the former Girls Next Door star suffered a "minor stroke" following her car accident earlier this year, and Dr. Sonu Ahluwalia, leading medical expert and Chief of Orthopedic Surgery at Cedars-Sinai, gives E! News an explanation on why and how this might have happened. (Dr. Ahluwalia has not treated Kendra.)

"People who have been in a car accident and have a traumatic brain injury, also known as a concussion, are more likely than people who have not had a brain injury to have a stroke. If you've caused injury to your brain, you are more susceptible to a stroke," Dr. Ahluwalia tells us, but added that it may not have been an actual stroke.

"I am not sure if her traumatic event resulted in a brain bruise. A brain bruise is different that a stroke. Stroke is often misused as a layperson's term. She may have perceived her injury as a stroke. Or a doctor described her injury as being 'like a stroke.'"

Dr. Ahluwalia also says someone can experience a stroke without even realizing it.

"It is certainly possible to have a minor stroke without knowing it. There are parts of the brain that are involved in functions that aren't so obvious to us. For instance, the long-term memory part of our brain can be affected by a stroke. It's not obvious to us right away that something bad has happened until we start testing the memory. 

"You could have a stroke and not know it because it hasn't affected that specific part of the brain. If that part was involved in something subtle, it's not picked up. You can only see it on a CAT scan. Whether the stroke is related to her accident or not, we don't know that."

Doctors made Kendra's discovery through CT scans just days after the terrifying ordeal, but according to those close to the outspoken blonde, she has since recovered and is well.

"They told her to take it easy and chill out for a couple of weeks, but she is fine," a source says. "There is nothing to worry about."

Kendra was involved in a head-on collision in Calabasas in April while driving on the ramp to the 101 freeway. Sources told E! News at the time that the former Playboy model was taken to Providence Tarzana Medical Center for observation for minor injuries, including possible whiplash.