Crisis isquémicas transitorias en Chile y su relación con el patrón de enfermedad cerebrovascular chileno / Transient ischemic attacks in Chile and it relation with chilean cerebrovascular disease standard

ABSTRACT

Patients and methods: One hundred forty nine patientes admitted to a Neurology service of a public hospital in Santiago, with an acute stroke, were studied. Patients and close relatives were interrogated about previous symptoms of TIA using a structured questionnaire. Results: One hundred nine patients had an ischemic and 40 patients a hemorrhagic stroke. Twenty patients with ischemic stroke had a history of TIA (18 percent). Fifteen out of 74 patients without a cardiac source of emboli (20 percent) and five out of 354 cases with an embolic source (14 percent) had a TIA preceding their stroke. Three out of 40 patients (8 percent) with hemorrhagic stroke had a history of TIA. Conclusions: This study does not support nor reject the hypothesis of a Chilean pattern of cerebrovascular disease unlike that found in Northern Caucasians