Minor Stroke Patients Face Serious Major Stroke Risk

A new study has found that patients who suffered a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or a minor stroke have a significant risk of experiencing a major stroke within seven days.

Researchers at the Oxford University Stroke Prevention Research Unit (UK) examined a cohort of 18 studies (involving 10,112 patients) of major stroke risk within one week after TIA to estimate the overall stroke risk. They also examined study methods, settings, populations, treatments, and case mix. The researchers found that the risk of major stroke within seven days of a TIA is 5.2%. The authors explained that the variations in calculated risks were mainly due to study method, setting, and treatment. They also found that minor stroke patients who are treated as emergency cases in specialist stroke units run the lowest risk of a major stroke soon afterwards, estimated to be 0.9%. The highest risks were among population-based studies without urgent treatment, which was 11%. The study was published in the December 2007 issue of The Lancet Neurology.

"The risk of stroke reported amongst patients treated urgently in specialist units was substantially lower than risks reported among other patients treated in alternative settings,” said authors Dr. Matthew Giles, M.D., and Professor Peter Rothwell, M.D., Ph.D. "These results support the argument that a TIA is a medical emergency and that urgent treatment in specialist units may reduce the risk of subsequent stroke.”

TIA is an acute episode of temporary and focal loss of cerebral function due to transient vascular occlusion. TIAs are rapid in onset; symptoms, which usually include severe headaches, numbness, partial paralysis, and other symptoms common to stroke, reach their maximal manifestation in fewer than 5 minutes and typically last less than one hour.


Related Links:
Oxford University Stroke Prevention Research Unit