Risk to health with mini stroke

Transient ischaemic attacks (TIA), which are short episodes of decreased blood flow to the brain, bear a significant risk for death and dependence. TIAs carry a rather high short-term risk for subsequent health impairment and are warning signs of a stroke. Researchers from the University Heidelberg, Germany, evaluated 1,380 patients hospitalised for TIA and 3,855 hospitalised for stroke. The researchers compared the two groups' test results, length of hospital stay, in-hospital complications, and outcome at discharge and after six months. During their hospital stay, eight percent of TIA patients had pneumonia or urinary tract infection (compared with 19 percent of stroke patients), it was found. Two percent of TIA patients had a cardiovascular event (versus four percent of stroke patients), and eight percent of TIA patients had a subsequent stroke during their hospital stay. In-hospital mortality was two percent for TIA patients and nine percent for stroke patients, five percent of TIA patients versus 10 percent of stroke patients died during the six months after they were first seen. Five percent of TIA patients had a stroke after discharge, compared with a six-percent recurrence rate among stroke patients.The researchers concluded that there is a risk of early stroke, death, or disability in TIA patients. Hence, management and treatment strategies should be similar for both TIA and acute stroke..