[The correlation of transient ischemic attack and cerebrovascular accident]

Correlation exists between the occurrence of a transient ischemic attack (TIA) and a cerebrovascular accident (CVA). The strength of this correlation however is a point for debate. We studied the sequential relation between the occurrence of TIA and CVA in patients over 50 years in general practice. Based on Continuous Morbidity Registration (CMR) in four general practices we analysed the morbidity in patients who presented symptoms of TIA and (or) CVA during the period 1971-1983. In this period a TIA was diagnosed in 134 persons and a CVA in 214 persons. The maximal observation period of the TIA patients after presentation of the symptoms was 12 1/2 years. In 8% of the CVA cases a TIA had been diagnosed in the period preceding the CVA. Of the TIA patients 13% developed a CVA in the subsequent observation period, half of them within two years after the TIA diagnosis. Comparison of the incidence rate of CVA in the general population with that in the population with a TIA reveals that a CVA development is about six times more frequent in the latter. This higher risk has only a relative meaning because the absolute number of cases is small.