Value of ABCD2-F in Predicting Cerebral Ischemic Attacks: Three Months Follow-Up after the Primary Attack.
Cerebrovascular attack (CVA) and transient ischemic attack (TIA) are major causes of emergency department visits around the globe. A significant number of these patients may experience repeat attacks if left untreated. Several risk stratifying scoring systems have been developed in recent years to point out the high risk patients. ABCD2 is based on age, blood pressure, clinical status, diabetes mellitus, and duration of symptoms and is used commonly for this purpose. In this study, we were to enhance its sensitivity and specificity with the addition of another criterion namely atrial fibrillation and making ABCD2-F. A prospective study in two hospitals was performed and 138 patients diagnosed with TIA/CVA were enrolled. Demographic, clinical, and paraclinical data of all patients were registered. All patients were followed for three months for any sign or symptom of a recurrent ischemic attack. Recurrent ischemic attacks happened in 9.4% of the patients. None of the criteria of ABCD2-F was associated with higher chance of ischemic attacks. Similarly, ABCD2-F was not different between patients with or without repeat cerebral ischemia. The addition of atrial fibrillation to ABCD2 did not enhance the accuracy of this scoring system to detect patients high risk for repeat cerebral ischemia. More studies in the future to improve sensitivity and specificity of this test are warranted.
Department of Emergency Medicine, Haftom-e-Tir Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Mojtaba
M
Chardoli
Department of Emergency Medicine, Haftom-e-Tir Hospital, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Nader H
NH
Firoozabadi
Department of Neurosurgery, Razi Hospital, Zahedan University of Medical Sciences, Zahedan, Iran.
Mohsen
M
Nouri
Sina Trauma and Surgery Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran.
Vafa
V
Rahimi-Movaghar
D000368:Aged; D003952:Diagnostic Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D002546:Ischemic Attack, Transient / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013997:Time Factors
ABCD2; ABCD2F; Stroke; Transient ischemic attack