19th July 2023

Diagnosis

Diagnosis can be challenging as there can be many mimics and there is no confirmatory diagnostic test. Typically, the constellation of symptoms should be in keeping with defined vascular territories, as in stroke.

Other features which would support a clinical diagnosis of TIA include abrupt onset of symptoms, ‘negative’ rather than ‘positive’ symptoms and a short time to maximal severity of symptoms. It is also important to take into account the demographic of the patient and assess for any relevant risk factors which would be in keeping with a diagnosis of TIA.

If a clinical diagnosis is suspected, NICE do not recommend CT brain scanning unless there is a suspicion of an alternative diagnosis which CT imaging would help exclude.