Health
Major stroke risk increases after TIA
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Dec. 3, 2007
The risk of a major stroke occurring within a week after a transient ischemic attack is substantial, according to an article in The Lancet Neurology, published online Nov. 11 and scheduled for the December print edition.
The study authors, from the Stroke Prevention Research Unit at the University of Oxford in the U.K., determined that one in 20 patients who has a TIA will go on to have a stroke within a week.
They sorted through conflicting results from numerous studies on the seven-day stroke risk and found that the variation in findings can be explained by differences in study method, settings and treatments.
"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," they wrote.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2007/12/03/hlbf1203.htm.
