TY - JOUR T1 - Recognition and management of transient ischaemic attack in primary care JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 62 LP - 63 DO - 10.3399/bjgp13X661011 VL - 63 IS - 607 AU - Daniel Lasserson Y1 - 2013/02/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/63/607/62.abstract N2 - GPs play a crucial role in stroke prevention. Not only do we advise our patients and offer interventions to control vascular risk factors but we are often the first port of call for patients seeking health care after a transient ischaemic attack (TIA).1 The neurologist's definition of TIA has recently changed and patients must have had a transient clinical deficit suggesting focal brain or retinal dysfunction with a ‘tissue’ criterion of normal cerebral imaging.2 This will rule out stroke, which can present clinically with transient symptoms. Urgent action is needed in primary care to ensure that stroke risk is minimised after TIA.Patients with TIA are in an accelerated phase of stroke risk, and those at highest risk of stroke within seven days of TIA can be predicted using the ABCD2 score,3 calculated using the patients' age, blood pressure in the consultation, whether speech or weakness were present, the duration of the transient event, and the presence of diabetes. The high early risk of stroke can be reduced with urgent specialist assessment and interventions,4 and consequently NICE guidance on the management of TIA in primary care recommends using the ABCD2 score to determine the urgency of specialist referral (most TIA clinics incorporate the ABCD2 score in their referral proforma), although little guidance is given on how to recognise TIA. The only intervention recommended for primary care, pending specialist confirmation of the diagnosis, is the prescription of aspirin.5 Substantial … ER -