Koch Suffered a ‘Trivial’ Stroke Affecting Left Side

Doctors said today that Mayor Edward I. Koch has suffered “a tiny, trivial stroke,” slightly affecting his left side, but they added the ailment did not present any major immediate concern.

Koch was transferred to Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center today after he had a recurrence of the dizziness, nausea and slurred speech that sent him to Lenox Hill Hospital on Thursday. (Story, Page 26.)

Dr. J. P. Mohr of Columbia-Presbyterian said the stroke was so small that it required a new technique to find it. He said it involved an artery the size of a human hair.

Mohr said he believed that Koch will be released from the hospital late this weekend and that he will return to his office the middle of next week. He said Koch would have to watch his diet and blood pressure and take an aspirin each day. Aspirin acts as a blood thinner, making clots less likely.

“His arteries are healthy, his brain is healthy and he is healthy,” Mohr said. He described Koch, 62, as “ostentatiously healthy” with the brain image of a man in his 20s.

Originally, when Koch was taken to Lenox Hill on Thursday, doctors said they believed that he had suffered a transient ischemia attack, or TIA. That involves a briefly diminished flow of oxygen to the brain.

But Mohr said that was reclassified as a stroke when the condition did not disappear fully right away, as it should have.

Mohr said the mayor had one noticeable lingering symptom--a slight weakness on the left side, including a slight drooping of his left eyelid. That and the slurred voice should disappear quickly, he said.

A stroke is any arterial disturbance that either cuts or limits the flow of oxygen to any portion of the brain.

Mohr said there was no reason to believe that the mayor should reduce his workload or leave office.