News - Hypertension Week of Sept 14, 2003/ Vol. 2 No. 37

Study: Some Stroke Patients Need to Be Checked Regularly for Blood Pressure, Other Risk Factors

People who have had mini and ischemic strokes should have their blood pressure and other risk factors checked periodically to prevent the silent threat of heart disease.

Up to 40 percent of patients with mini-strokes, also known as transient ischemic strokes, and ischemic strokes have silent heart disease in which sufferers exhibit no symptoms.

The recommendation for such check-ups was contained in an American Heart Association/American Stroke Association scientific statement in the September 9 issue of the journal Circulation.

The panel of researchers who wrote the statement found a link between silent heart disease and mini-strokes and ischemic strokes originating in large vessels to the brain.

"Compared to patients with strokes caused by blockage in small vessels in the brain, patients with transient ischemic strokes or large-vessel strokes have a higher likelihood of also having coronary artery disease, whether or not they have a clear history of heart disease," said lead author Dr. Robert Adams,a professor of neurology at the Medical College of Georgia.

Adams and his colleagues recommend that doctors use the Framingham risk estimation tool that calculates risk factors, such as age, gender, cholesterol, blood pressure, smoking and diabetes to determine a person's level of risk for heart disease within 10 years. A patient whose risk is 20 percent or higher should be considered for further noninvasive testing to detect silentheart disease.

The authors don't recommend routine testing for all stroke patients, and they say testing doesn't need to occur while patients are hospitalized immediately after stroke. However, they noted that all people with stroke should undergo a comprehensive assessment and doctors should encourage them to reduce their risk factors for heart disease.

Other sources: American Heart Association