Clinical-CT correlations in TIA, RIND, and strokes with minimum residuum

An approach to the controversy of the physiopathology and classification of ischemic stroke is attempted in this study. The computed tomographies (CT) of 88 patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA), 46 with reversible ischemic neurologic deficits (RIND) and 70 with ischemic strokes with minimum residuum (SMR) are analysed. The incidence of focal ischemic lesions on CT is 25% in TIA and RIND and 35% in SMR, when the study was performed after the first 24 hours. The incidence of cerebral infarction was much lower when the CT was performed within the first 24 hours after the clinical event. No significant differences in size or location of the infarction were found between the different groups. Deep infarctions were smaller than superficial ones. TIA duration correlated neither with the incidence of CT abnormalities nor with the size of the lesions. No correlation was found between doppler or oculoplethysmography abnormalities, clinical groups and CT findings. In reference to the structural lesions that underlie the clinical syndromes, TIA, RIND and SMR should not be considered as different groups.