-
Views
-
Cite
Cite
S. Sulfi, D. Balami, A. Suliman, R.A. Archbold, A. Kapur, K. Ranjadayalan, A.D. Timmis, Clinical utility of transthoracic echocardiography in the investigation of ischaemic stroke and TIA – An audit of 1087 patients, European Journal of Echocardiography, Volume 8, Issue 3, June 2007, Page s34, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euje.2007.03.019
Close - Share Icon Share
Extract
Background: Transthoracic echocardiography (TTE) is commonly performed in patients with ischaemic stroke or transient ischaemic attack (TIA). However, the diagnostic utility of echocardiography in this patient group has not been systematically evaluated.
Methods: Data were collected prospectively from all patients undergoing echocardiography in a district general hospital from 1992 to 2006. The data were collected into a purpose built database. Of the 30,634 echocardiograms performed, 1087 (3.54%) were for investigation of ischaemic stroke or TIA. Data analysis was by multiple structured queries of the database (mean age 66.8 years, range 17–95 years, 57% male), and searches were performed to identify clinical findings considered to have therapeutic implications (ventricular thrombus or aneurysm, left atrial thrombus, rheumatic heart disease, inter-atrial shunts, vegetations, mitral valve prolapse and septal aneurysm).
Results: Of the 1087 echocardiograms performed for ischaemic cerebral events, clinical findings with therapeutic implication in the management of stroke were found only in 12 patients (1.1%). Six patients had left ventricular thrombus (0.55%) and six patients had mitral stenosis (0.55%). Atrial septal aneurysm, a finding of doubtful clinical significance, was noted in 10 patients (0.92%). Other abnormalities without direct therapeutic implications included left ventricular hypertrophy in 353 patients (32.5%) and systolic dysfunction in 79 patients (7.3%: mild 32, moderate 36 and severe 11).
