[Management of transient ischemic cerebral attacks (author's transl)].

Practitioners should be familiar with the description of transient ischemic attacks (TIA) as 40% are followed more or less rapidly by a stroke. Analysis of the natural history of TIA shows that patients die twice as often from cardiac manifestations of atheroma than from cerebral lesions. This demonstrates the significance of diagnosis and treatment of risk factors. Patients are at increased risk of stroke during the six to twelve months following TIA. Anticoagulants and inhibitors of platelet aggregation seem to reduce this risk. Carotid surgery is indicated only for localized vascular lesions; in other cases surgery increases morbidity. Doppler examination is the best means of detecting cases which need emergency surgical treatment.