J Neuroradiology
-
Neuroimaging is critical in the evaluation of patients with transient ischemic attack (TIA) and MRI is the recommended modality to image an ischemic lesion. The presence of a diffusion (DWI) lesion in a patient with transient neurological symptoms confirms the vascular origin of the deficit and is predictive of a high risk of stroke. Refinement of MR studies including high resolution DWI and perfusion imaging using either MRI or CT further improve the detection of ischemic lesions. Rapid etiological work-up includes non-invasive imaging of cervical and intracranial arteries to search for symptomatic stenosis/occlusion associated with an increased risk of stroke.