Transient ischemic attack

A transient ischemic attack (TIA, often colloquially referred to as "mini stroke") is caused by temporary disturbance of blood supply to a restricted area of brain and cause brief (less than 24 hours) neurologic dysfunction. If there are neurological symptoms persisting for more than 24 hours, it is classified as a cerebrovascular accident (stroke).

Related Topics:
Brain - Cerebrovascular accident

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Symptoms vary widely from person to person depending on the area of the brain involved. The most frequent symptoms include temporary loss of vision (typically amaurosis fugax), difficulty speaking (dysphasia), weakness on one side of the body hemiparesis, numbness usually on one side of the body and loss of consciousness.

Related Topics:
Amaurosis fugax - Dysphasia - Hemiparesis

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Patients diagnosed with a TIA are sometimes said to have had a warning for an approaching cerebrovascular accident. If the time period of blood supply impairment lasts more than a few minutes, the nerve cells of that area of the brain die permanently and cause permanent neurologic deficit. One third of the people with TIA later have recurrent TIAs and one third have a stroke due to permanent nerve cell loss.

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