Two-Dimensional Echocardiography in Patients with Focal Cerebral Ischemia

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Abstract
To assess the use of 2 dimensional (2D) echocardiography in demonstrating a cardiac source for cerebral embolization, 138 patients with 1 or more recent episodes of focal cerebral ischemia, in whom either a cardiac mechanism was suspected or no probable mechanism of ischemia was identified, were studied. Intracardiac thrombus was found in 9 patients (6.5%); 32 (23.2%) had other cardiac disorders possibly related to the ischemia; and the remaining 97 (70.3%) had study results that were normal or added nothing to the clinical findings. 2D echocardiography was of limited value in patients with no clinical cardiac disease or hypertension, and of greater value in patients with known cardiac disease, especially atrial fibrillation. Although 2D echocardiography can demonstrate a wide range of disorders that may be associated with ischemia, the overall low yield does not warrant routine use of this study in all patients with unexplained cerebral ischemic events.

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