engleski

Cerebral emboli in patients with cardiac disease

We examined the frequency and intensity distribution of cerebral microemboli in five groups of patients with cardiac disease. TCD monitoring of both middle cerebral arteries was performed over 60 minutes in 64 patients and in 50 healthy subjects. HITS were detected in 30 (46.8 %) of the patients. The frequency of the detected emboli was the highest in patients with prosthetic heart valves (PHV), atrial fibrillation, aortic or mitral stenosis, mural thrombi, dilated cardiomyopathy, respectively. In the over 24 dB intensity group, most of the detected signals had patients with PHV, while patients in other groups had predominantly detectable signals in lower intensity groups. No emboli were detected in healthy subjects. The frequency and intensity distribution of cerebral microemboli vary among different groups of cardiac disease. Our results indicate that patients with a potential source of cardiac embolism might stand for a higher stroke risk. TCD presents a helpful device for pointing out such patients.

cerebral microemboli; transcranial Doppler; cardiac disease

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