Extracellular Vesicles and Dysregulated Coagulation in the Prediction of Stroke

Annually 100,000 strokes occur, placing stroke as the largest cause of disability in the UK. 90% of strokes are preventable, leading to national focus on programmes including "The National Stroke Programme" to act on preventing, treating, and improving post-stroke care. Importantly, over 25% of ischaemic stroke sufferers have previously had a Transient Ischaemic Attack (TIA), which presents the biggest concern for TIA patients. There are no measures which reliably identify TIA patients most likely to suffer a stroke. Novel biomarkers for predicting stroke are key to addressing this problem. The PREDICT-EV study aims to screen 300 TIA patients and follow them over 12-months. The investigators will determine if a novel biomarker we've identified to increase thrombotic risk (endothelial derived extracellular vesicles) and the resulting increased prothrombin time is associated with patients at highest risk of stroke.