The outcome of patients with transient ischemic attacks and stroke treated with anticoagulants.

Long-term anticoagulant treatment was given to 25 patients with transient ischemic attacks (TIA) and 49 stroke patients with reversible ischemic neurological deficit or cerebral embolism. Another 16 TIA patients were observed without anticoagulant treatment. Life table analyses, comparing the observed with the expected frequency, revealed increased mortality in the TIA patients irrespective of whether or not they had received anticoagulants. The stroke patients treated with anticoagulants also had a higher mortality than expected. On the other hand, the incidence of subsequent stroke was not higher than expected in the TIA and stroke patients treated with anticoagulants, while it was significantly increased in the TIA patients not treated with anticoagulants. Thus, the risk of stroke, but not the risk of death, was normalized by the anticoagulant treatment. Unacceptably serious bleeding complications were seen in the group of stroke patients with anticoagulant treatment. Bleeding complications, in both TIA and stroke patients, seemed to be related to lengthy treatment, high blood pressure on admission or insufficient patient compliance.