The 7-day risk of completed ischemic stroke after TIA is 5%.
The use of reliable stroke prediction tools are potentially invaluable in guiding the degree of urgency that one applies to the management of TIA patients.
Accuracy of the ABCD2 Score, considered to be the most-refined tool of its kind, was recently again evaluated.
This 7-point scale assigns risk based on 5 factors: Age > 60 (1 pt.), BP > = 140/90 (1 pt), Clinical features - weakness (2 pts), speech impairment w/o weakness (1 pt); Duration >=60 min (2 pts), 59 to 10 min (1 pt); Diabetes (1 pt).
The study found that the discriminatory power of the ABCD2 Score may best be applied when used in patients at low risk for an early, disabling ischemic stroke.
References
Asimos et al. ABCD2 Score for Predicting Early Ischemic Stroke. Annals of Emerg Med. 55(2); 201-10: Feb 2010.
