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№ 73Neurology9 min read

Clinical symptoms and signs of transient ischemic attack (TIA)

1. Big picture

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is a temporary focal neurological deficit caused by ischemia. Clinically, think of it as a warning stroke: the symptoms disappear, but the patient is at increased risk of a real ischemic stroke, especially in the first hours and days.

The examiner usually wants three things:

  1. Can you recognize that TIA causes transient focal deficits, not vague global symptoms?

  2. Can you localize the symptoms to the carotid/anterior circulation or vertebrobasilar/posterior circulation?

  3. Do you know that TIA is an emergency, not a harmless event?

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