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. 2023 Apr 26;25(Suppl C):C212-C217.
doi: 10.1093/eurheartjsupp/suad022. eCollection 2023 May.

Echocardiography in cardioembolic stroke prevention

Emanuele Canali  1 , Marco Serani  1 , Pierpaolo Tarzia  1 , Pellegrino Ciampi  1 , Stefano Canestrelli  1 , Leonardo Calò  1
Affiliations

Echocardiography in cardioembolic stroke prevention

Emanuele Canali et al. Eur Heart J Suppl. .

Abstract

Stroke is a leading cause of mortality and disability, and cardiac embolism accounts for one-third of all ischaemic strokes. Thirty per cent of strokes are cryptogenic. In this setting, echocardiography is essential in the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of embolic stroke of undetermined source since it is a widely available, safe, and inexpensive tool. Transthoracic echocardiography and transoesophageal echocardiography, furthermore, are proven to change therapeutic management leading to initiation of anti-coagulation, anti-microbial therapy, patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure, or cardiac tumour resection. The most common cardioembolic sources include left atrial appendage thrombus, left ventricular thrombus, vegetations in endocarditis, paradoxical embolization in PFO, prosthesis thrombosis, and intracardiac tumours. Although the presence of a cardioembolic source only represents a risk factor for an ischaemic stroke, it could not assure the certain or the unique cause of the event. The purpose of this review is to underline the importance of echocardiography and overview the main sources of cardiac embolism and the echocardiographic features.

Keywords: Cardioembolic stroke; ESUS; Echocardiography; Endocarditis; Left atrial thrombus; Myxoma; PFO; Thrombosis prosthetic valve.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interest: None declared.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
LAA thrombosis on TEE.
Figure 2
Figure 2
Aortic endocarditis on 3D TEE.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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