French researchers have reported that patients who had a recent transient ischemic attack (TIA) prior to stroke had better functional outcome and lower mortality at 1 month and 1 year post-stroke, suggesting a neuroprotective effect of the prior TIA. The study was published online Feb. 28 in the British Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry. Patients included in the study were those diagnosed with first-ever ischemic stroke between 1985 and 2008. Patients were divided into 3 groups for analysis based on the time interval from previous TIA to stroke onset (<4 weeks, ≥4 weeks, no TIA) or duration of TIA (≤30 minutes, >30 minutes, no TIA). Observations were severe functional impairment (unable to walk, bedridden, or dead) at discharge or outpatient consultation, and all-cause mortality at 1 month and 1 year. Patients were analyzed stratified according to stroke subtype (non-lacunar, lacunar). The results showed that of 3015 patients with first-ever ischemic stroke, 389 had a TIA <4 weeks before stroke and 97 had a TIA ≥4 weeks before stroke. patients who had a TIA had better ambulatory status (corrected OR 0.61, P=0.008), better 1-month survival (corrected HR 0.76, P= 0.0006), and better 1-year survival (corrected HR 0.72, P<0.0001). Patients who had a TIA <4 weeks before stroke and those with a TIA of ≤30 minutes duration had significantly better overall regression, including non-lacunar versus lacunar stroke.