[Subclinical attention changes in transient ischemic attacks in the vertebrobasilar region]

A significant number of patients who have had cerebrovascular illness apparently recover their former abilities completely but return to normal life with subtle cognitive deficits which may affect their daily lives. Such is the situation of patients with transitory ischemic accidents who present with sustained, undiagnosed attention deficits.

To identify subclinical alterations due to attention deficits in patients with transitory ischemic accidents, and to contribute to the study of the physiopathological mechanisms involved in the integration of this function.

We examined 44 persons, divided into three groups for this study: one group had vertebro-basilar transitory ischemic accidents, a second group had supratentorial infarct and a third was healthy. All were given a specially designed computerized test of continuous work to evaluate the sustained attention component.

Significant differences were found between the transitory ischemic accidents and healthy groups, regarding the variables including correct answers, omissions and indications of attention. This was not seen with the variables involving reaction time and number of errors. This demonstrated the existence of attention disorders involving omission in the group of patients with transitory ischemic accidents.

These findings suggest the hypothesis that in the vertebro-basilar region there are important mechanisms involved in the process of sustained attention.