Cardiovascular disease in male patients with carotid transient ischemic attacks or minor strokes.

The authors tested the hypothesis that coronary heart disease and lower extremity atherosclerosis occur more frequently in patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) than in patients with minor stroke. Thirty-three consecutive male patients with TIA and 36 with minor stroke from the carotid artery territory were examined with ultrasonography of the cardiac, iliac, and femoral arteries; echocardiography (UCG); electrocardiogram (ECG); thallium scintigraphy (TS) of the myocardium; and assessment of the ankle/arm index (A/AI). TS showed myocardial infarctions to be more common among TIA patients than among minor stroke patients, 54% vs 19%, p = 0.019. UCG showed the frequency of left ventricular and atrial dilatation to be higher in the TIA group than in the minor stroke group, 64% vs 27%, p = 0.0084. Significant artery stenosis (greater than or equal to 50%) was not, however, more frequent in the TIA group than in the minor stroke group, nor was there any significant difference between the groups in A/AI. The frequency of TS-verified myocardial infarction (MI) was higher in the subgroup with greater than or equal to 50% carotid artery stenosis than in that with less than 50% stenosis, 61% vs 25%, p = 0.022, and also higher in the pathological UCG subgroup than in the normal UCG subgroup, 50% vs 15%, p = 0.025. Thus, there was a greater incidence both of TS-verified MI and of UCG-verified cardiac dilatation in the TIA group than in the minor stroke group but no difference between the groups in the degree of atherosclerosis either in the carotid or lower extremity regions.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)