We reviewed the medical charts of patients with ischemic stroke for presence of TIAs within 72 hours before stroke onset. Stroke severity was evaluated by the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and disability by a modified Rankin scale.
We evaluated 203 patients (≥65 years) with diagnosis of acute ischemic stroke and categorized them according to the presence (n = 42, 21 % ) or absence (n = 161, 79 % ) of TIAs within 72 hours of stroke onset. Patients were monitored until discharged from the hospital (length of hospital stay 14.5 ± 4.8 days). No significant differences in the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale and modified Rankin scale scores were observed between those patients with TIAs and those without TIAs present before stroke onset at admission or discharge.
These results suggest that the neuroprotective mechanism of cerebral ischemic preconditioning may not be present or functional in the elderly.