Tehran University of Medical Sciences Current Journal of Neurology 2717-011X 13 3 2014 09 15 127 130 Ali Noureddine Department of Neurology, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Kavian Ghandehari Department of Neurology, Neuro cognitive Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. Mohammad Taghi Shakeri Department of Social Medicine, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran. 2015 10 14 Background: Previous literatures have shown a transient ischemic attack  (TIA) mimic rate  of 9-31%. We aimed  to ascertain the proportion of stroke mimics amongst suspected TIA patients. Methods: A prospective observational study was performed in   Ghaem   Hospital,   Mashhad,   Iran   during   2012-2013. Consecutive TIA patients  were identified in a stroke center. The  initial diagnosis  of TIA  was made  by the  resident  of neurology and final diagnosis of true TIA versus TIA mimics was made after 3 months follow-up by stroke subspecialist. Results: A total of 310 patients  were assessed  during a 3- month period of which 182 (58.7%) subjects were male and 128 (41.3%) were female. Ten percent  of the patients  was categorized  as a TIA mimic. The presence  of hypertension, aphasia, duration of symptoms, and increased age was the strongest predictor  of a true  TIA. Migraine was the  most common etiology of stroke mimic in our study. Conclusion:  It  seems  that  many  signs  and  symptoms have low diagno tic  usefulness for discrimination of true TIA from non-cerebrovascular events and predictive usefulness of any sign or symptom should be interpreted by a stroke neurologist. https://ijnl.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijnl/article/view/608 https://ijnl.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijnl/article/download/608/194