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Do patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke need urgent specialty evaluation and treatment? As part of the two-phase, prospective, population-based EXPRESS (Early use of eXisting PREventive Strategies for Stroke) study, British researchers evaluated the effect of early assessment and treatment on hospital admission, costs, and disability. In the first phase, 310 patients were referred to a specialty clinic by their primary care physicians within several days of the acute event, and treatment recommendations were faxed to the primary care physicians (median time to treatment, 19 days); in the second phase, 281 patients were sent directly to the specialty clinic and received treatment the same day.
The rate of hospital adm…