ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the relationship between the right-to-left shunt(RLS)detected with contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler (c-TCD) and recurrent stroke in patients with cryptogenic stroke.Methods The consecutive patients w ith ischemic stroke w ere enrol ed. The patients w ith cryptogenic stroke w ere screened according to the TOAST criteria. They w ere divided into either a RLS positive group or a RLS negative group according to the c-TCD findings, and then they w ere fol ow ed up for a period of one year. They w ere also divided into a recurrent group and a non-recurrent group according to w hether they had recurrence or not. Results A total of 118 patients w ith cryptogenic ischemic stroke w ere enrol ed, including 46 in the RLS positive group, 72 in the RLS negative group, 10 in the recurrent group, and 108 in the non-recurrent group. There w ere no significant differences in demographic and baseline data betw een the RLS negative group and the RLS positive group. There w ere significant differences in RLS positive rate (7/10 vs.39/108; P=0.046) and proportion of patients with server RLS (2/10 vs.1/108; P=0.019) betw een the recurrent group and the non-recurrent group. Multivariate logistic regression analysis show ed that the positive RLS w as an independent predictor of recurrent stroke (odds ratio 4.896, 95% confidence interval 1.135-21.120;P=0.033). Conclusions The positive RLS may be an independent risk factor for the recurrence in patients w ith cryptogenic ischemic stroke.
ABSTRACT
Objective To investigate the correlation of microembolic signals (MES) and outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke.Methods The patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled in the study.The MES of middle cerebral artery was monitored dynamically using transcranial color Doppler ultrasound.The early lesions of ischemic stroke were evaluated by MRI.The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) was used to evaluate neurological deficits.The modified Rankin scale was used to evaluate the outcome,and the stroke recurrence was recorded.Results A total of 135 patients with acute ischemic stroke were enrolled,in which,33 were cardiogenic cerebral embolism,49 were large artery atherosclerotic stroke,24 were small arterial occlusive stroke,and 29 were other clear causes or cryptogenic stroke.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that coronary heart disease (odds ratio [OR],5.862,95％ confidence interval [CI] 2.008-17.114; P =0.000) was the independent risk factor for positive MES within 48 hours after stroke onset,while the history of antithrombotic treatment (OR 0.376,95％ CI 0.141-0.998; P =0.045) was its independent protective factor.In addition,coronary heart disease (OR 4.879,95％ CI 1.257-18.939; P =0.033),hypertension (OR 4.958,95％ CI 1.029-23.882; P =0.030),and diabetes (OR 3.659,95％ CI 1.027-13.034; P =0.050) were the independent risk factors for positive MES within 1 week after stroke onset.The NIHSS scores of the patients of the positive MES at baseline and 1 week and the clinical outcome at 3 months had no significant differences with the patients of negative MES,however,stroke recurrence and deaths increased significantly (P =0.019).Conclusions MES within 48 hours of onset was not associated with the outcome in patients with acute ischemic stroke at 3 months,however,the incidence of endpoint events such as recurrence and death was significantly higher in patients of positive MES within 3 months.