[Role of two-dimensional echocardiography in the diagnosis of embolic cardiopathy in XXXX with transient cerebral ischemia attacks].

@entity1 @entity101 @entity63 @entity886 @entity3454 @entity4905 @entity439 @entity955 @entity299 @entity453
Cardiac sources of emboli have been frequently described in @entity1 with Transitory @entity63 Attacks (TIAs). The aim of our study was to assess the value of two-dimensional echocardiography (2D-E) in the investigation for possible cardiac aetiology of TIAs. As an offshoot of a larger epidemiologic study which aimed at determining the period prevalence of TIAs in 6.504 subject(s) of the general population aged between 40-65, fifty subjects with @entity4905 (group A) and 66 controls (group B) were studied. A @entity299 was found in 20/50 s. (40%) in group A ( @entity453 : 5; @entity101 : 4; @entity3454 : 5; left @entity439 : 2; @entity886 : 2; aortic valve prosthesis: 1; @entity955 : 1) and in 5/66 s. (7.5%) in group B (p less than 0.01) (coronary disease: 2; @entity101 : 1; @entity3454 : 2). A potential source of emboli was present in 11 s. in group A (22%) and in 2 s. in group B (3%) (p less than 0.01). In 4/50 s. in group A and in 1/66 in group B the diagnosis was obtained by means of 2D-E only, because other clinical signs and ECG data were negative. 2D-E could only confirm the diagnosis in the remaining cases, with no additional information (i.e., no intracavitary masses were seen). In conclusion there is a high prevalence of @entity299 in @entity1 with @entity4905 over 40 years of age. A cardiac source of emboli may be suspected in a substantial number of cases. Nevertheless the value of routine 2D-E in disclosing an otherwise undetected source of emboli is rather low.
