Transient Global Amnesia and the Risk of Ischemic Stroke

Background and Purpose—Whether transient global amnesia (TGA) represents an arterial insult that heralds ischemic stroke remains unclear. Therefore, we examined stroke risk after TGA in a population-based cohort.

Methods—After performing chart review at our institution to validate the International Classification of Diseases, 9th Edition, Clinical Modification diagnosis code for TGA, we used administrative claims data to identify all patients discharged from nonfederal California emergency departments or acute care hospitals between 2005 and 2010 with a primary discharge diagnosis of TGA. Patients with a primary discharge diagnosis of migraine, seizure, or transient ischemic attack were included as controls. Kaplan–Meier statistics were used to calculate rates of ischemic stroke, and Cox proportional hazards analyses were used to compare stroke risk among the 4 exposure groups while controlling for traditional stroke risk factors. read more