Brain-heart axis--Review Article

Abstract

There has been a large confirmation over the last decades that stroke may produce cardiac changes (echocardiographic, electrocardiographic, enzymatic). In ischemic stroke, systolic dysfunction is associated with a high risk of mortality during hospitalization. A recent study demonstrated that cardiac diastolic dysfunction could also accompany acute stroke besides the systolic dysfunction already pointed out by previous studies, being a predictive marker of acute cerebrovascular events. Increased sympathetic activity is contributory, inducing a reversible cardiac myocyte damage and cardiac enzyme surges. Some of the most frequent electrocardiographic abnormalities in stroke are ST segment abnormalities and various tachyarrhythmias (especially atrial fibrillation) and bradyarrhythmias. One can infer the importance of careful and continuous electrocardiographic monitoring of the stroke patient in order to identify these quite frequent electrocardiographic alterations, as it is well known that death due to cardiac arrhythmias is common among acute stroke patients. In order to increase the diagnostic yield, a high level of NTproBNP (N-terminal of the prohormone brain natriuretic peptide) may be used as a discriminant for the patients with a higher probability of cardiac arrhythmias and mortality at presentation, during hospitalization and on the long term. In such patients, cardiac monitoring techniques are more likely to reveal abnormalities. A high BNP level may have potentially important management implications as it may signal a worse prognosis and may prompt the undertaking of certain therapeutic measures. This review summarizes the possible pathological mechanisms of heart-brain connections and their clinical and therapeutical implications.

Abbreviations: AF = atrial fibrillation, ECG = electrocardiography, HRV = heart rate variability, cTn = cardiac troponin, SAH = subarachnoid hemorrhage, CK-MB = creatine kinase-MB, BNP = brain natriuretic peptide, NT-proBNP = N-terminal of the prohormone brain natriuretic peptide, ANP = atrial natriuretic peptide, mRS = modified Rankin Scale, NIHSS = the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.

Keywords: elevated cardiac enzymes; heart; stroke; sudden death.