Holter monitoring in patients with transient and focal ischemic attacks of the brain

The results of Holter monitoring in 100 patients with transient and focal cerebral ischemia were studied retrospectively. Atrial fibrillation (AF) was found in five patients compared with two from a group of 100 age and sex-matched control patients. Four of these had a previous history of AF or showed AF on the standard electrocardiogram. Episodic forms of sick sinus syndrome, which have also been related to cerebral embolism, were found in 32 of the TIA patients against 13 of the controls (p < 0.0025). Sick sinus syndrome was of the bradyarrhythmia-tachyarrhythmia type in 14 of the TIA patients and in three of the controls (p < 0.01). The relationship between TIAs and transient sinus node dysfunction could not be explained by concomitant heart disease. It is not yet clear whether the relationship is causal or indirect.