Describe how a Transient Ischemic Attack is different than an Ischemic Stroke?
Laura Gray is an active woman, 82 years of age, who lost consciousness and collapsed at home. Her daughter found her mother on the floor, awake, confused, and slightly short of breath. The daughter called EMS. EMS evaluated Mrs. Gray and determined that she may have had a stroke. They notified the nearest designated comprehensive stroke center that they would be arriving with the patient within 15 minutes. The daughter reports that her mother had had an episode of sudden-onset numbness and tingling in the right limb, with slight confusion and slurred speech, 3 days previously. The episode lasted only 5 minutes and then the symptoms went away. Additional information provided by the daughter indicates that Mrs. Gray has been treated for hypertension for 10 years but notes that she is often not compliant with her antihypertensive medicine. The patient smoked for the past 40 years, drinks occasionally, and is of normal weight.