Atrial fibrillation, TIAs and completed strokes.

A retrospective survey of 1076 patients with completed strokes and 789 with transient ischemic attacks (TIAs) revealed that 5.6% of those with completed strokes but only 1.6% of those with TIAs were in atrial fibrillation. TIAs in the presence of atrial fibrillation tended to last longer than 60 minutes except in individuals who had coexistent carotid disease that might have been the source of their attacks. It is suggested that emboli from the fibrillating atrium rarely cause brief TIAs, and more usually cause 'long' TIAs or completed strokes.