A new scoring system can more accurately predict the risk of stroke and death for patients who have previously suffered a mini stroke, according to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Mini stroke, or transient ischaemic attack (TIA), is a mild form of stroke during which the brain receives insufficient blood supply, resulting in a loss of brain function that lasts for less than 24 hours.
However, between 15 and 26 per cent of TIA patients later suffer a severe stroke, while about 3,000 patients die of all categories of stroke in Hong Kong each year, according to neurologist Yannie Soo Oi-yan of the university's department of medicine and therapeutics.
A scoring system called ABCD{+2} assesses the risk of severe stroke and death within 90 days after a patient has suffered a mini stroke.
Under the system, higher scores, and therefore a higher likelihood of death, are given to older patients with diabetes, high blood pressure and other ailments.
But Dr Soo said the westerndeveloped system was not tailor-made for Chinese patients.
In Hong Kong and the mainland, about 30 to 50 per cent cases of stroke result from a hardening of arteries in the head, while this contributes to less than 10 per cent of cases in the west, she said.