Investigations

• ECG ^c

Why?

ECG abnormalities make a stroke more likely

Patient	Prognostic Factor	Outcome	CER	RR (95% CI)	NNF+ (95% CI)
hypertension b	ECG abnormalities independent	stroke	5.5%	1.47 (1.09 to 1.99)	39 (18 to 200)

• Arrhythmias are common in patients with transient ischaemic attacks ^c

Sick sinus syndrome is common with TIA

Arrhythmias found with TIA c	% (95% CI)
episodic sick sinus syndrome	32% (23% to 41%)
bradyarrhythmia	18% (11% to 26%)
bradytachyarrhythmia	14% (7.2% to 21%)
atrial fibrillation or flutter	5.0% (0.73% to 9.3%)