1. Understanding Stroke Slideshow Pictures
2. Take the Stroke Quiz
3. Slideshow: Atrial Fibrillation Causes, Tests, and Treatment

Medical Author:

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Benjamin Wedro, MD, FACEP, FAAEM

Dr. Ben Wedro practices emergency medicine at Gundersen Clinic, a regional trauma center in La Crosse, Wisconsin. His background includes undergraduate and medical studies at the University of Alberta, a Family Practice internship at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario and residency training in Emergency Medicine at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center.

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Medical Editor:

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, Chief Medical Editor

Melissa Conrad Stöppler, MD, is a U.S. board-certified Anatomic Pathologist with subspecialty training in the fields of Experimental and Molecular Pathology. Dr. Stöppler's educational background includes a BA with Highest Distinction from the University of Virginia and an MD from the University of North Carolina. She completed residency training in Anatomic Pathology at Georgetown University followed by subspecialty fellowship training in molecular diagnostics and experimental pathology.

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The diagnosis of TIA is most often made by history, since the neurologic deficits have most likely resolved before the patient presents for care. This history will also try to identify risk factors for heart disease and stroke:

• high blood pressure,
  
  
• high cholesterol,
  
  
• diabetes,
  
  smoking, and
  
  
• family history.

Physical examination will include monitoring heart rate and rhythm and listening to the heart and lungs. Examination of the neck may include listening for bruits (abnormal sound made by blood rushing through narrowed blood vessels) or sounds made by blood rushing through narrowed blood vessels. A full neurologic exam will be undertaken and may include looking for weakness or numbness; assessing walk and coordination; and checking vision, hearing, speech, and language comprehension.

Other tests that may be considered include:

• Electrocardiogram (EKG) and monitoring to look for irregular heart rhythms like atrial fibrillation.
• CT scan of the head to look for bleeding in the brain. Strokes do not appear right away on a CT scan. It is a test to rule out bleeding, not to confirm a stroke or TIA.
• Carotid ultrasound is a test to look for narrowing of the blood vessels in the anterior part of the neck that provide the majority of blood supply to the brain.

Basic blood tests may include a CBC (complete blood count) to look for anemia or problems with too many or too few platelets. Patients who take warfarin (Coumadin) (a blood thinner to prevent blood clots from atrial fibrillation) will have their blood tested to make certain the medication dosage is appropriate.

If there is concern that there may be clots coming from the heart or debris coming from heart valves, then an echocardiogram (ultrasound examination of the heart) may be indicated to help with the diagnosis as to the origin of the TIA.

Treatment of TIA is aimed at preventing a future stroke. Simple scoring systems have been developed to estimate this risk and help decide whether a patient should be admitted to the hospital for observation or whether they can be discharged home for observation.

ABCD and ABCD² (diabetes is considered) scores are commonly used predictors.