NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Most Americans are unfamiliar with the signs, symptoms and risks associated with a "mini-stroke," a new survey shows.

Only 9 percent of those surveyed could give a definition or list symptoms for a mini-stroke, also known as a transient ischemic attack (TIA), according to a report published in the journal Neurology.

"A TIA is just a stroke that stopped," study co-author Dr. S. Claiborne Johnston, director of the stroke service at the University of California at San Francisco, explained in an interview with Reuters Health. "The person starts out having a stroke, but then the blood returns to the brain. TIA's are dangerous and they need to be taken seriously."

Often people dismiss a TIA as unimportant because the symptoms go away, Johnston said. But the TIA could be the warning sign of a full-blown stroke yet to come, he added. Approximately 11 percent of people who are diagnosed with a mini-stroke in the emergency room will have a stroke within the next 90 days.

"People need to come in and see a doctor even if the symptoms pass," Johnston added. "There are medications we can give to people that can reduce the chance of them going on to have a stroke."

Johnston and his colleagues surveyed more than 10,000 people by phone in 1999. The 10,000 were chosen at random and were all at least 18 years old.

Just over 3 percent of those surveyed had experienced TIA symptoms but never went to a physician to be evaluated. Among those who did get diagnosed with a TIA, only 64 percent saw a physician within 24 hours of the symptoms, and a full 16 percent didn't go to the doctor until more than a week after the TIA.

The symptoms of stroke and TIA are similar, Johnston noted. They include the following: -- Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, particularly on one side of the body; -- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding; -- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes; -- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness or loss of balance or coordination; -- Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Symptoms of a TIA can last anywhere from 30 seconds up to hours, Johnston said. "The longer they last, usually the more worrisome they are," he added. The new study was supported by a grant to the National Stroke Association from drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, Inc., which makes a medication that can reduce the risk of a stroke after a TIA. SOURCE: Neurology 2003;60:1429-1434.