RECOGNITION AND ASSESSMENT
Treat patient who still has symptoms at time of assessment as stroke
- TIA: a clinical syndrome characterised by an acute loss of focal cerebral or ocular function with symptoms lasting <24 hr
- Crescendo TIAs are >1 TIA within 1 week
- Frequent TIAs are those occurring at least once per week
- Treat any patient presenting acutely with focal neurological signs as a stroke
- if within <4 hr of symptom onset, consider for thrombolysis
- see Acute Stroke guideline
- Diagnose a TIA only once symptoms have resolved in less than 24hrs
- majority of TIA resolve in 90 minutes
- TIA is more difficult to diagnose than stroke:
- try to obtain a witness account
- syncope is unlikely to be a TIA
- vertigo alone is unlikely to be a TIA
Symptoms and signs
Anterior circulation
- Dysphasia
- Dysarthria
- Visuospatial neglect
- Usually hemiparesis (face, arm and leg)
- Usually hemisensory (face, arm and leg)
Posterior circulation (ischaemia in brainstem, cerebellum and/or occipital lobes)
- Nausea and vomiting
- Vertigo
- Diplopia
- Ataxia
- Crossed syndromes (weakness or numbness on side of face and in contralateral limbs)
- Coma
- Visual field defect (Homonymous hemianopia)
Stroke risk
- Use ABCD2 score to classify chance of stroke within 7 days as ‘low’ or ‘high’
- treat all patients with TIA who are in atrial fibrillation (AF) as high risk TIA
- treat crescendo TIAs (>1 TIA within 1 week) as high risk, even if ABCD2 score <4
ABCD2 score including AF and crescendo TIA
Select as many of list below that apply to your patient
Immediate investigations
- FBC, clotting, ESR
- Random blood glucose
- U&E
- Random cholesterol
- ECG
Carotid Doppler and CT brain (plain)
- Request for all patients; urgently for high risk TIA
- Where vascular territory or pathology is uncertain, request a diffusion weighted MRI scan
IMMEDIATE MANAGEMENT
When
- Unless you STRONGLY suspect a haemorrhagic stroke (severe headache, loss of consciousness) or BP very high (>180/100), begin antiplatelet and other therapy immediately
What
- Atorvastatin 20 mg straightaway and then each night regardless of the cholesterol value – non-HDL <40%
- if intolerant to statin, ezetimibe 10 mg daily
- If patient’s blood pressure in the TIA clinic is >130/80, start antihypertensive treatment
- do not wait for repeated measurements by the GP
Antiplatelet therapy
- First line: Clopidogrel 300 mg as loading dose then 75 mg daily monotherapy indefinitely
- if patient not able to tolerate clopidogrel, give aspirin 300 mg stat followed by aspirin 75 mg/day and dipyridamole 200 mg MR twice daily
- if both clopidogrel and dipyridamole contraindicated, offer aspirin 300 mg stat followed by aspirin 75 mg once daily
- if both clopidogrel and aspirin contraindicated or not tolerated, offer dipyridamole 200 mg
MR twice daily - Combination of clopidogrel and aspirin is not recommended for long-term prevention after stroke or TIA, unless there is another indication e.g. acute coronary syndrome or recent coronary stent procedure
- If dyspepsia experienced with Clopidogrel/aspirin, consider adding proton pump inhibitor
- try to avoid omeprazole, esomeprazole as they reduce the efficacy of Clopidogrel
Patient in AF
- Discuss with patient options for both warfarin (vitamin K antagonist) and non-vitamin K antagonist oral anticoagulation (DOAC)
- base choice on clinical features, patient preferences and risk
- use CHADS-VASc to assess stroke risk and HAS-BLED to assess bleeding risk. See Atrial fibrillation guideline
- choices of anticoagulation include warfarin, apixaban, dabigatran etexilate, edoxaban and rivaroxaban
DOAC initiation
- Screen patient – U&Es, LFTs, FBC, BP, renal function
- always check calculated creatinine clearance and follow prescribing guidelines for each DOAC
- For review and follow-up below, refer to the atrial fibrillation stroke prevention team
Warfarin Initiation
- Start therapeutic dose of LMWH. See Dalteparin for VTE guideline
- Unless there are contraindications, slow anticoagulation with warfarin will be started by the TIA service after assessing risk stratification and contraindications
- aim for an INR of 2–3
- stop antiplatelet agents once target INR achieved
- once INR >2, stop LMWH
- Discuss a clear treatment plan with patient and teach them how to administer LMWH
- Refer patient to the anticoagulation management service (AMS) for long-term follow-up
Patient already on warfarin
- If patient is on warfarin and developed a TIA with sub-therapeutic INR (<2), give treatment dose LMWH until INR >2
- If patient is already on warfarin with sub-therapeutic INR and time in therapeutic range (TTR) <65%, consider switching to DOAC if compliance and adherence is not an issue
- contact anticoagulation management service (AMS) to investigate TTR
DISCHARGE
- For patients with crescendo TIA, frequent TIA, BP uncontrolled or if symptoms unresolved when assessment completed, seek advice from stroke consultant of the day
- For those referred to TIA service, provide patient with drugs sufficient until appointment time and letter to GP
Patient advice
- If smoking, advise to stop
- Advise patient on healthy lifestyle
- Advise patient not to drive until symptom-free for 1 month and to inform insurance company
- Advise all patients with definite clinical symptoms of TIA who are otherwise fit to dial 999 if they experience any new TIAs lasting more than a few minutes
SUBSEQUENT MANAGEMENT
- This will be undertaken by TIA/Stoke specialist
- Check NASECT criteria for carotid stenosis
- Where patients have repeated attacks of transient neurological symptoms despite best medical treatment, and an embolic source has been excluded, consider an alternative neurological diagnosis
Symptomatic carotid stenosis of 50–99%
- Assess and refer for carotid endarterectomy within 1 week of onset of symptoms
- Receive best medical treatment
- lifestyle and diet advice, including smoking cessation
- hypertension – aim for a target BP <130/80 mmHg but do not reduce abruptly
- diabetes mellitus – aim for HbA1c <53 mmol/mol
- oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy contraindicated
- aim for total cholesterol <4 mmol/L and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) <2 mmol/L
- Advise all patients with definite clinical symptoms of TIA who are otherwise fit to dial 999 if they experience any new TIAs lasting more than a few minutes
- Calculate the 1 yr and 5 yr stroke risk
- Discuss all cases with vascular surgeon of the week
- Following risk assessment, discuss case in the vascular MDT
- Discuss management plan with patient (carotid endarterectomy vs medical management)
Symptomatic carotid stenosis of <50%
- Not to undergo surgery
- Receive best medical treatment
- lifestyle and diet advice, including smoking cessation
- hypertension – aim for a target BP <130/80 mmHg but do not reduce abruptly
- diabetes mellitus – aim for HbA1c <53 mmol/mol
- oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy contraindicated
- aim for total cholesterol <4 mmol/L and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) <2 mmol/L
- Advise all patients with definite clinical symptoms of TIA who are otherwise fit to dial 999 if they experience any new TIAs lasting more than a few minutes
RESEARCH
- Consider enrolment in a research study
© 2022 The Bedside Clinical Guidelines Partnership.
Created by University Hospital North Midlands and Keele University School of Computing and Mathematics.
Research and development team: James Mitchell, Ed de Quincey, Charles Pantin, Naveed Mustfa