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Forsyth Stroke and Neurosciences Center at Forsyth Medical Center (FMC) announced today it has opened the region's first center specializing in the diagnosis and treatment for those having pre-stroke symptoms, referred to medically as a Transient Ischemic Attack or TIA. TIAs are brief attacks that occur when a blood clot interrupts blood flow to the brain and often signal the potential for a more serious future stroke. 

The new center is located in a specially designated unit at FMC to allow doctors to rapidly evaluate and treat patients who have suffered a TIA. Most patients admitted to the TIA Center can be diagnosed within 24 to 36 hours, much faster than in traditional outpatient settings where diagnosis can take three to five days.

In the U.S., nearly 300,000 patients each year come to emergency departments with symptoms of a TIA.

"Research has shown that 20 percent of those experiencing a TIA are at risk for a more serious stroke within the following three months with the greatest risk occurring in the first 48 hours," says Cheré M. Chase, M.D., medical director of neurosciences and neurocritical care at FMC. "Those who suffer strokes within 48 hours after having a TIA often experience more debilitating and potentially deadly strokes."

Dr. Chase says the goal of the new center is to reduce the incidence and severity of major debilitating strokes through community education and aggressive intervention in those instances where it has been confirmed that an individual has had a TIA.

TIAs can last for a few minutes or up to 24 hours, but, unlike a major stroke, TIAs produce no lasting visible damage and disappear quickly. Approximately half of the people who experience a TIA are unaware they have been threatened by possible stroke.

"Although the symptoms of a TIA are identical to that of a full-blown stroke, they can be easy to ignore, especially once they go away," says Dr. Chase. "It is extremely important to remember that a TIA is a warning sign that gives us an opportunity to reduce a future, and potentially serious, stroke.  That is why you should never ignore the symptoms of stroke."

Stroke symptoms include:

"       Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on only one side of the body
"       Sudden confusion or difficulty speaking or understanding speech
"       Sudden trouble with vision  in one or both eyes
"       Sudden difficulty walking, dizziness or loss of balance and coordination
"       Sudden, severe headache with no known cause

Forsyth Stroke and Neurosciences Center was the first in North Carolina to earn national certification by The Joint Commission as a Primary Stroke Center and is the first in the region to open a center specifically to diagnose and treat TIA. The national door-to-drug-treatment time benchmark set by the Brain Attack Coalition guidelines is 60 minutes for patients who present at hospital with stroke. At FMC, the door-to-drug-treatment time is 47 minutes.