ISCHEMIC STROKE AND TIA - CLINICAL CLUES TO COMMON CAUSES

Establishing the cause of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor s troke enables you to institute effective therapy to prevent major stro ke. Clinical and radiologic features that help to clarify the cause of cerebrovascular ischemia include characteristics of prior TIAs, tempo ral progression and nature of the neurologic deficit, and appearance o f infarction on CT and MRI of the brain. Carotid and transcranial Dopp ler ultrasound, magnetic resonance angiography, arterial angiography, and echocardiography are used to confirm the cause of cerebral ischemi a. We provide three case studies to illustrate our approach to stroke diagnosis.