Background: After a transient ischemic attack (TIA) or minor stroke, the long-term risk of subsequent stroke is uncertain. Methods: Electronic databases were searched for observational studies reporting subsequent stroke during a minimum follow-up of 1 year in patients with TIA or minor stroke. Unpublished data on number of stroke events and exact person-time at risk contributed by all patients during discrete time intervals of follow-up were requested from the authors of included studies. This information was used to calculate the incidence of stroke in individual studies, and results across studies were pooled using random-effects meta-analysis. Results: Fifteen independent cohorts involving 129794 patients were included in the analysis. The pooled incidence rate of subsequent stroke per 100 person-years was 6.4 events in the first year and 2.0 events in the second through tenth years, with cumulative incidences of 14% at 5 years and 21% at 10 years. Based on 10 studies with information available on fatal stroke, the pooled case fatality rate of subsequent stroke was 9.5% (95% CI, 5.9 – 13.8). Conclusions: One in five patients is expected to experience a subsequent stroke within 10 years after a TIA or minor stroke, with every tenth patient expected to die from their subsequent stroke.

We are writing to respond to an article published in the Journal of Zoology257: 37–42 by Tuyttens, Macdonald and Roddam. The article describes analyses to investigate the potential effects on European badgers of the fitting and monitoring of radio-collars. The results suggest that there is a transient detrimental effect on body condition for up to 100 days post fitting.

Estimating the size of badger populations at a local scale using direct observation is difficult because of their nocturnal and elusive lifestyle. Methods based on live-trapping can provide robust estimates of badger numbers, but are very labour-intensive and expensive. The development of alternative methods to predict badger numbers accurately would provide valuable tools for research and management. Badger setts are distinct structures, which exhibit various signs of activity. The physical appearance of setts has been used in the past as a crude guide to the number of badgers likely to be trapped. In this study, an objective system for quantifying levels of activity at badger setts was developed and related to the number of trapped badgers. Several types of activity were positively associated with badger numbers, although these associations varied seasonally. Furthermore, all individual activity scores, summary indices and combinations of activity types were poor predictors of the number of badgers trapped. This is probably because variations in environmental conditions and badger behaviour confound the relationship between activity and badger numbers.