[Prognosis of cardiogenic cerebral embolism]

In a retrospective study the reports of 211 cases of cardiogenic cerebral embolism--diagnosed on the base of neurological and cardiological findings--were analyzed in view of signs and findings of prognostic value. There were 21 patients with TIA, 39 cases of RIND and 151 patients with cerebral infarction, 60 of which showed mild and 91 severe neurological symptoms. 38 patients died during the period of hospitalization. While sex of the patients as well as vascular risk factors (hypertension, diabetes mellitus, cigarette smoking) did not influence the clinical course of the disease, patients with TIA or RIND in general were younger (about 5 years) than those with severe stroke. Prognosis of cardiogenic cerebral embolism depended to a great degree on the underlying heart disease. Cerebral embolism after myocardial infarction showed a better remission of symptoms than embolism in atrial fibrillation. In the group of valvular diseases the course of embolic strokes in mitral lesions was worse than in aortal valve disease. Prognosis was worst in endocarditis, both in view of neurological deficit and of mortality. Mostly, the cardiogenic emboli lead to infarctions of the middle cerebral artery territory (78 per cent) with a predilection for the left hemisphere. In media-syndromes the clinical course was significantly worse in patients with additional homonymous visual defect compared to incomplete infarctions. Initial disturbance of conscience reduced prognosis quoad vitam et restitutionem significantly. Of the neuroradiological findings, the detection of arterial occlusion or circulatory disturbance in angiography as well as the finding of an ischemic lesion in computed axial tomography (CAT) was correlated with a severe course of the embolic stroke. While 7 patients with hemorrhagic infarction in CAT-Scan showed no differences in the clinical course, the 14 patients with pathological cerebral spinal fluid findings in embolism had an unfavourable prognosis. The development of epileptic seizures did not influence the further course of the infarction to a significant extent. Results are compared with the current world literature.