Risk factors for stroke and use of echocardiography in diagnosis: a review
1Department of Medicine, King Khalid National Guard Hospital, Jeddah, PO Box 4409, Jeddah, 21491, Saudi Arabia.
Insights
Echocardiography is useful for diagnosing cardiac causes of stroke in patients with heart disease. However, it is not routinely required for all stroke patients, as it may not always change management.
Area of Science:
- Cardiology
- Neurology
- Diagnostic Imaging
Background:
- Stroke is a common and serious condition.
- Cardiac sources are responsible for approximately 20% of ischemic strokes in Western populations.
- Cardiology consultations and cardiac investigations are frequently used to identify embolic sources.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review stroke risk factors.
- To evaluate the utility of echocardiography in diagnosing stroke.
- To guide general physicians on cardiac investigations for stroke.
Main Methods:
- A Medline literature review was conducted.
- Reported causes of stroke were identified and categorized.
- Causes were discussed to inform clinical decision-making.
Main Results:
- Certain cardiac sources have a well-established role in causing stroke.
- Other cardiac conditions play a circumstantial or secondary role in stroke etiology.
- Echocardiography can aid diagnosis in specific stroke patient subgroups.
Conclusions:
- Echocardiography is recommended for stroke patients with known heart disease.
- Routine echocardiography is not necessary for all stroke patients.
- While echocardiography can enhance diagnosis, it may not alter treatment strategies in all cases.
Background:
Stroke is a prevalent disease in many communities. Cardiologists consultation and cardiac investigations are frequently requested to rule out cardiac source of embolic manifestations. The heart has been reported to account for 20% of ischaemic strokes in the Western community.
Objective:
To review risk factors for stroke and the use of echocardiography in its diagnosis.
Methods:
Medline review was done for reported causes of stroke, these causes were divided into major and minor and were discussed briefly as general physician need to determine when and what to ask for.
Results:
Some cardiac sources do have established roles in strokes but others have circumstantial and/or secondary roles.
Conclusion:
While there exists evidence to recommend echocardiogram in stroke patients with heart disease, it is not needed routinely in all patients with stroke. In some circumstances, echocardiography may enhance the diagnosis but not necessarily change management [corrected].
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