Pendlebury ST, Thomson RJ, Welch SJV, et al. - Cognitive impairment occurring following TIA and stroke exhibits a typical “vascular” pattern, including prominent frontal/executive deficits. In view of the reported correlation of cognitive impairment with increased delirium risk, researchers sought to determine if severity and pattern of cognitive deficits are predictive of delirium on long-term follow-up after TIA/stroke.

• Prospective assessment of delirium was done in surviving TIA/stroke participants on October 1, 2013, in the Oxford Vascular Study (OXVASC) during all hospitalizations over the subsequent 6 months.

• They identified a total of 1,565 TIA/stroke survivors; 158 of these patients (mean/SD age = 79.2/11.5 years) had ≥ 1 admission and 59 (37%) had ≥ 1 delirium episode.

• Cognitive impairment of increasing severity after TIA/stroke is noted to be linked with increased risk of developing delirium particularly deficits in frontal/executive domains and recall.

• Researchers recommend considering long-term risk of delirium as part of the overall cerebrovascular disease burden.