Annals of emergency medicine
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The optimal diagnostic evaluation for establishing the risk of stroke among patients presenting to the emergency department (ED) with a transient ischemic attack has not been determined. The objective of this review is to assess the ability of diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to predict the short-term risk of stroke. ⋯ Studies of variable quality, consistency, and precision suggest that diffusion-weighted MRI may identify patients at sufficiently low risk to warrant ED discharge and close outpatient follow-up.