The TIA concept is understood differently by neurologists and nonneurologists. GPs and emergency MDs often label minor strokes and several nonvascular transient neurological disturbances as TIAs. Until this misconception of TIA is changed, the term TIA should probably be avoided in the communication between referring physicians and neurologists. If not referred to a neurologist, one third to one half of patients labeled with a diagnosis of TIA will be inappropriately managed.

Background and Purpose-The first medical contact of an acute stroke victim is often a nonneurologist. Validation of stroke diagnosis made by these medical doctors is poorly known. The present study seeks to validate the stroke diagnoses made by general practitioners (GPs) and hospital emergency service physicians (ESPs). Methods-Validation through direct interview and examination by a neurologist was performed for diagnoses of stroke made by GPs in patients under their care and doctors working at the emergency departments of 3 hospitals. Results-Validation of the GP diagnosis was confirmed in 44 cases (85%); 3 patients (6%) had transient ischemic attacks and 5 (9%) suffered from noncerebrovascular disorders. Validation of the ESP diagnosis was confirmed in 169 patients (91%); 16 (9%) had a noncerebrovascular diagnosis. Overall, the most frequent conditions misdiagnosed as stroke were neurological in nature (cerebral tumor, 3; subdural hematoma, 1; seizure, 1; benign paroxysmal postural vertigo, 1; peripheral facial palsy, 2; psychiatric condition, 6; and other medical disorders, 7). Conclusions-In the majority of cases, nonneurologists (either GPs or ESPs) can make a correct diagnosis of acute stroke.Treatment of acute stroke with drugs that do not cause serious side effects can be started before evaluation by a neurologist and CT scan. (Stroke. 1998;29:1106-1109.)

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Sentinel practice networks have been established in many European countries to monitor disease incidence in the community. To demonstrate the value of sentinel networks an international study on the incidence of chicken pox has been undertaken. Chickenpox was chosen as an acute condition for which incidence data are important to the determination of health policy on vaccine use. The project examined the incidence of chickenpox reported in sentinel networks in England and Wales, The Netherlands, Portugal and Spain (two regional networks) in January-June 2000 and the potential underestimate from patients who did not consult. An investigation of secondary household contact cases was undertaken. Reported incidence of chickenpox (all ages) in England and Wales was 25 per 10,000, in The Netherlands 13 per 10,000, in Portugal 21 per 10,000, in Spain Castilla y Leon 27 per 10,000 and in Spain Basque 55 per 10,000. Analysis of secondary contact cases suggested underestimation of incidence between 2.4% in Spain Castilla y Leon and 32.2% in The Netherlands. There was a trend towards incidence at an earlier age in England and Wales and in The Netherlands compared with Portugal and Spain. Whilst there was little problem in reliably identifying the number of incident cases in the recording networks and relating the non-consulting contact cases to them, the security of the denominator remains a problem where networks are comprised of differing categories of health care provider. It is essential that numerator and denominator information are made available specifically for each category.