ABSTRACT
Stroke is a major public health problem. In addition to causing high rates of morbidity and mortality, resulting in high health care costs, it is also personally devastating. Prevention of stroke should therefore be a high priority in health care management. Transient ischemic attack (TIA), generally defined as a neurological deficit of abrupt onset attributed to focal cerebral ischemia and lasting less than 24 hours, is often a precursor of a more severe ischemic attack [1]: about 11%of individuals with TIAwill have a strokewithin 90 days, and 10-15% of strokes are foreshadowed by a TIA [2,3]. However, public awareness of the implications of TIA is low, and many patients do not even seek medical care [4,5].
