HONG KONG: The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has devised a new system for determining the long-term risk of strokes among Chinese patients who already have suffered milder, transient ischemic strokes.

Transient ischemic stroke occurs when blood supply to part of the brain is briefly interrupted, causing patients to suffer a loss of brain function. The significant difference from major strokes is that symptoms, such as slurred speech and numbness to one side of body, are of much shorter duration, usually less than 24 hours.

Transient ischemic stroke is quite common in Hong Kong.

At Prince of Wales Hospital, the teaching hospital of CUHK, about 100 patients are admitted for treatment of the malady each year.

Yannie Soo, specialist in neurology at CUHK cautioned that patients should not underestimate the risk of transient ischemic stroke. She cautioned that milder strokes may serve as a warning sign that a much more severe could follow.

The new scoring system is a modification of a system developed in the West and is tailor-made for Chinese patients.

"We developed a new scoring system because the Western standard is not entirely suitable for Chinese patients," she said.

CUHK has demonstrated that its new scoring system is effective in predicting the long-term risk of fatal strokes among 481 patients admitted to Prince of Wales Hospital suffering from minor strokes. The study took place between January 2004 and December 2005.

All patients in the study underwent computer tomography and ultrasound scans. Follow-up studies were carried out over a period averaging 40 months.

The study found that the new Hong Kong developed standard is more effective in predicting the long-term risk of stroke and death in Chinese patients.

(HK Edition 02/11/2009 page1)