The role of left atrial enlargement and age in the prediction of recurrence in embolic strokes of undetermined source / El papel del crecimiento auricular izquierdo y la edad como predictores de recurrencia en infarto cerebral embólicos de origen indeterminado

Abstract Objectives: Left atrial disease is an independent risk factor for ischemic stroke and can be used to predict atrial fibrillation (AF). We examine whether left atrial enlargement (LAE) could predict stroke recurrence in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). Materials and methods: Sixty-four patients with a confirmed diagnosis of ESUS were followed for a median of 22 months. Clinical data and echocardiogram findings were recorded. The echocardiogram interpretation was performed centrally and blindly. The Brown ESUS – AF score was used to categorize patients into high (human resource planning [HRP]: score > 2) and low-risk patients (non-HRP score 0-1). Stroke recurrence was the primary outcome. Results: The median age was 62 years (range: 22-85 years); and 33 (51.6%) were men. The median initial NIHSS score was three points (range: 0-27). Twelve (18.8%) patients were categorized as HRP. We found a significant tendency toward recurrence among HRP versus non-HRP patients. Three (25%) HRP versus 2 (3.8%) non-HRP experienced recurrence (OR: 8.3 95% CI 1.2-57; p=0.042); this association was related to severe atrial dilatation (OR: 14.5 95% CI 0.78-277, p = 0.02) and age > 75 years (OR: 12.7 95% CI 1.7-92.2, p = 0.03). We found no differences in recurrence in a univariate analysis. Conclusions: Patients with severe LAE who are 75 years old or older have a significant tendency to experience stroke recurrence.

Resumen Objetivos: La patología atrial izquierda es factor de riesgo independiente para infarto cerebral y puede utilizarse para predecir fibrilación auricular. Examinamos si el crecimiento aurícular izquierdo puede predecir recurrencia en pacientes con infarto embolico de origen indeterminado (ESUS). Materiales y métodos: Sesenta y cuatro pacientes con diagnóstico confirmado de ESUS fueron seguidos por una mediana de seguimiento de 22 meses. Registramos los datos clínicos y ecocardiográficos. La interpretación ecocardiográfica fue centralizada y cegada. La escala de Brown ESUS – AF fue utilizada para categorizar a los pacientes en riesgo alto (HRP puntaje > 2) y bajo riesgo (no-HRP: puntaje 0-1). El descenlace primario fue recurrencia de infarto cerebral. Resultados: Mediana de edad fue de 62 años (rango: 22-85 años); 33 (51.6%) fueron hombres. La mediana inicial de la escala de NIHSS fue de 3 putnos (rango de 0 a 27). 12 (18.8%) pacientes fueron de alto riesgo (HRP) y 52 (81.3%) de bajo riesgo (non- HRP). El grupo HRP mostró tendencia significatica hacia mayor recurrencia. Tres (25%) HRP versus 2 (3.8%) no-HRP experimentaron recurrencia (OR: 8.3 IC 95% 1.2-57; p = 0.042); esta asociación se relacionó con dilatación auricular severa (OR: 14.5 IC 95% 0.78-277, p = 0.02) y edad > 75 años (OR: 12.7 IC 95% 1.7-92.2, p = 0.03). En el análisis multivarioado, no encontramos significativas. Conclusiones: El crecimiento auricular izquierdo severo y la edad mayor de 75 años mostraron tendencia significativa a recurrencia de infarto cerebral.

Robotic mitral valve surgey combined with left atrial reduction and ablation procedures

Abstract Introduction: This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of robotically assisted, minimally invasive mitral valve surgery combined with left atrial reduction for mitral valve surgery and elimination of atrial fibrillation (AF). Methods: Eleven patients with severe mitral regurgitation, AF, and left atrial enlargement who underwent robotic, minimally invasive surgery between May 2013 and March 2018 were evaluated retrospectively. The da Vinci robotic system was used in all procedures. The patients' demographic data, electrocardiography (ECG) findings, and pre- and postoperative transthoracic echocardiography findings were analyzed. During follow up ECG was performed at postoperative 3, 6, and 12 months additionally at the 3rd month trans thoracic echocardiography was performed and functional capacity was also evaluated for all patients. Results: All patients underwent robotic-assisted mitral valve surgery with radiofrequency ablation and left atrial reduction. Mean age was 45.76±16.61 years; 7 patients were male and 4 were female. Preoperatively, mean left atrial volume index (LAVI) was 69.55±4.87 mL/m2, ejection fraction (EF) was 54.62±8.27%, and pulmonary artery pressure (PAP) was 45.75±9.42 mmHg. Postoperatively, in hospital evaluation LAVI decreased to 48.01±4.91 mL/m2 (P=0.008), EF to 50.63±10.13% (P>0.05), and PAP to 39.02±3.11 mmHg (P=0.012). AF was eliminated in 8 (72%) of the 11 patients at the 1st postoperative month. There were significant improvements in functional capacity and no mortality during follow-up. Conclusion: Left atrial reduction and radiofrequency ablation concomitant with robotically assisted minimally invasive mitral valve surgery can be performed safely and effectively to eliminate AF and prevent recurrence.

The correlation research between carotid intima-media thickness and enlargement of left atrium and left ventricle for patients with acute cerebral infarction / 实用医学杂志

Objective To investigate the correlation between carotid intima-media thickness (CIMT) and left atrial and left ventricular enlargement in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Methods A total of 224 patients with acute cerebral infarction were included. Based on the thickness of CIMT, it was divided into three groups which were normal CIMT group, thickening CIMT group, and carotid plaque (CP) group, with 57, 97, and 70 patients included respectively. Clinical data were collected, and carotid artery color Doppler ultrasound, cardiac color Doppler ultrasound and other examinations were determined to carry out relevant statistical analysis.Results The left anterior-posterior diameter (LAD) , left atrial diameter index (LADI) , left ventricular end-diastolic septal thickness (IVSD) , and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) in the CP group were all higher than those in the normal CIMT group and thickening CIMT group (P < 0.05). The percentage of the left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVEDD) and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF) took in the thickening CIMT group were both higher than those in the CP group (P < 0.05). Multi-factor logistic regression analysis indicated that there were statistically significant differences in age, homocysteine and left LVMI (P < 0.05). In the Pearson correlation analysis, CIMT and LADI were positively correlated (r= 0.184, P < 0.01) , and there was a positive correlation between CIMT and LVMI (r = 0.236, P < 0.01). Conclusions Left ventricular enlargement is one of the highrisk factors for CIMT abnormalities in patients with acute cerebral infarction. Left atrial and left ventricular enlargement are closely correlated to the severity of CIMT in patients with acute cerebral infarction, indicating that abnormal CIMT in patients with acute cerebral infarction has a certain predictive effect on left atrial and left ventricular enlargement.

The differences of left ventricular configuration between Chinese and international standard by echocardiography in Chinese adults with hypertension / 中华超声影像学杂志

Objective@#To compare the distribution characteristics of left ventricular configuration in Chinese adult patients with hypertension under Chinese and international standard using echocardiography.@*Methods@#A total of 201 patients with primary hypertension were included in the study.Left ventricular end systolic left atrial diameter (LAD), ascending aortic diameter (AO), left ventricular end diastolic diameter (LVDd), left ventricular posterior wall thickness (PWTd) and ventricular septal thickness (IVSd) were measured and then relative wall thickness (RWT), left ventricular mass (LVM), left ventricular mass index (LVMI) were calculated. Left ventricular systolic left atrial volume (LAV) was measured by Simpson′s biplane method and left atrial volume index (LAVI) was then calculated. Ganau classification was done according to Chinese and international standard respectively. The differences of left ventricular configuration in hypertension were compared.@*Results@#According to the Chinese standard, the analytic results of left ventricular configuration showed that there were 103 cases (51.2%) in normal configuration (NG) group, 28 cases (13.9%) in concentric remodeling (CR) group, 52 cases (25.9%) in eccentric hypertrophy (EH) group and 18 patients (9.0%) in hypertrophic (CH) group, respectively. Whereas, according to the international standard, there were 47 cases (23.4%) in NG group, 93 cases (46.3%) in CR group, 18 cases (8.9%) in EH group and 43 cases (21.4%) in CH group.Each group in the configuration analysis had significant difference between Chinese and international standard (P<0.01). Patients with left atrial enlargement according to the Chinese and international standard had statistical difference in the EH and CH groups (P<0.05).@*Conclusions@#Analysis of left ventricular configuration according to the Chinese and international standard has significant difference. According to Chinese standard, it may be more accurate to reflect the changes of left ventricular configuration in Chinese hypertensive population, so as to evaluate the changes of left heart structure and function more accurately.

Score for atrial fibrillation detection in acute stroke and transient ischemic attack patients in a Brazilian population: The acute stroke atrial fibrillation scoring system

OBJECTIVE: Atrial fibrillation is a common arrhythmia that increases the risk of stroke by four- to five-fold. We aimed to establish a profile of patients with atrial fibrillation from a population of patients admitted with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack using clinical and echocardiographic findings. METHODS: We evaluated patients consecutively admitted to a tertiary hospital with acute ischemic stroke or transient ischemic attack. Subjects were divided into an original set (admissions from May 2009 to October 2010) and a validation set (admissions from November 2010 to April 2013). The study was designed as a cohort, with clinical and echocardiographic findings compared between patients with and without atrial fibrillation. A multivariable model was built, and independent predictive factors were used to produce a predictive grading score for atrial fibrillation (Acute Stroke AF Score-ASAS). RESULTS: A total of 257 patients were evaluated from May 2009 to October 2010 and included in the original set. Atrial fibrillation was diagnosed in 17.5% of these patients. Significant predictors of atrial fibrillation in the multivariate analysis included age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scores, and the presence of left atrial enlargement. These predictors were used in the final logistic model. For this model, the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve was 0.79. The score derived from the logistic regression analysis was The model developed from the original data set was then applied to the validation data set, showing the preserved discriminatory ability of the model (c statistic = 0.76). CONCLUSIONS: Our risk score suggests that the individual risk for atrial fibrillation in patients with acute ischemic stroke can be assessed using simple data, including age, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scores at admission, and the presence of left atrial enlargement. .

Relation Between Left Atrial Enlargement and Stroke Subtypes in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: Increased atrial size is frequently seen in ischemic stroke patients in clinical practice. There is controversy about whether left atrial enlargement (LAE) should be regarded as a risk factor for cerebral infarction. We investigated the association between indexed left atrial volume (LAVI) and conventional stroke risk factors as well as stroke subtypes in acute ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: One hundred eighty two acute cerebral infarction patients were included in this study. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and transthoracic echocardiography were done for all patients within 30 days of diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction. Echocardiographic LAE was identified when LAVI was more than 27 mL/m2. Stroke subtypes were classified by the Trial of Org 10171 in acute stroke treatment classification. RESULTS: There were significant differences between subjects with normal and increased LAVI in prevalence of stroke risk factors including atrial fibrillation (p = 0.001), hypertension (p = 0.000), valvular heart disease (p = 0.011) and previous stroke (p = 0.031). An increased LAVI was associated with cardioembolic subtype with an adjusted odds ratio was 6.749 (p = 0.002) compared with small vessel disease. CONCLUSION: Increased LAVI was more prevalent in those who had cardiovascular risk factors, such as atrial fibrillation, hypertension, valvular heart disease and history of previous stroke. LAE influenced most patients in all subtypes of ischemic stroke but was most prevalent in the cardioembolic stroke subtype. Increased LAVI might be a risk factor of cerebral infarction, especially in patients with cardioembolic stroke subtype.

Relation Between Left Atrial Enlargement and Stroke Subtypes in Acute Ischemic Stroke Patients

OBJECTIVE: Increased atrial size is frequently seen in ischemic stroke patients in clinical practice. There is controversy about whether left atrial enlargement (LAE) should be regarded as a risk factor for cerebral infarction. We investigated the association between indexed left atrial volume (LAVI) and conventional stroke risk factors as well as stroke subtypes in acute ischemic stroke patients. METHODS: One hundred eighty two acute cerebral infarction patients were included in this study. Brain magnetic resonance imaging and transthoracic echocardiography were done for all patients within 30 days of diagnosis of acute cerebral infarction. Echocardiographic LAE was identified when LAVI was more than 27 mL/m2. Stroke subtypes were classified by the Trial of Org 10171 in acute stroke treatment classification. RESULTS: There were significant differences between subjects with normal and increased LAVI in prevalence of stroke risk factors including atrial fibrillation (p = 0.001), hypertension (p = 0.000), valvular heart disease (p = 0.011) and previous stroke (p = 0.031). An increased LAVI was associated with cardioembolic subtype with an adjusted odds ratio was 6.749 (p = 0.002) compared with small vessel disease. CONCLUSION: Increased LAVI was more prevalent in those who had cardiovascular risk factors, such as atrial fibrillation, hypertension, valvular heart disease and history of previous stroke. LAE influenced most patients in all subtypes of ischemic stroke but was most prevalent in the cardioembolic stroke subtype. Increased LAVI might be a risk factor of cerebral infarction, especially in patients with cardioembolic stroke subtype.

Risk Factors of Cerebral Infarction in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation

BACKGROUND: It is well known that atrial fibrillation is common cardiac arrythmia in old age and poses a definitive risk factor of cerebral infarction. Therefore, effective treatment of atrial fibrillation is very important in the prevention of cerebral infarction. However, oral anticoagulant medication for the prevention of embolic ischemic stroke may be dangerous due to cerebral hemorrhage side effects. METHODS: This is a controlled case study designed to identify the risk factors in a large numbers of stroke and atrial fibrillation patients and to assess those patients with atrial fibrillation as a high risk group for cerebral infarction. All patient discharged from Chonnam National University Hospital were identified over a 42 month period who met our case standards of atrial fibrillation and ischemic stroke (n=62), and compared them with the control groups who were discharged with atrial fibrillation without stroke(n=68). We excluded the atrial fibrillation due to valvular heart disease, ischemic heart disease and congestive heart failure during the selection of subjects. RESULTS: Subjects and the controls were characteristically similar with common past medical histories of diabets, smoking, and hyperlipidemia. Sex, familial history, left ventricular hypertrophy in 2D-echocardiogram were also similar in both groups, however differences did exist. Subjects were significantly older than controls(68.9 : 63.9, p40mm)(52.6% : 29.0%, p<0.001). Each of these 3 factors were assinged a measure of 1 point as a risk score, ischemic embolic stroke was found in 4 out of 28 patients(14.3%) with a risk score of 0, in 16 out of 39 patients(41.0%) with a risk score of 1, in 29 out of 41 patients(70.7%) with a risk score of 2, in 8 out of 11 patients(72.7%) with a risk score of 3. CONCLUSIONS: Based on the above results, a subject having more than two risk factors should be regarded as a high risk group for cerebral infarction and the long term anticoagulant therapy for the prevention of stroke may also be necessary even though some complications are present.

Sobrecarga atrial esquerda: correlaçäo eletro-ecocardiográfica / Left atrial enlargement: electro-echocardiographic correlations

Objetivo - Avaliar os diferentes critérios eletrocardiográficos (ECG) de sobrecarga atrial esquerda (SAE), mediante a comparaçäo com a dimensäo atrial esquerda obtida pela ecocardiografia. Métodos - Aamostra era composta de 273 pacientes com idade de 17 a 87 (média 49) anos, 115 homens, sendo brancos 95,5//, pretos 3,5// e pardos 1//, compreendendo cardiopatias diversas e pessoas sem evidência de doença cardíaca. Foram estudados os seguintes critérios eletrocardiográficos de SAE: a) porçäo terminal de P em V1 ò 0,04mmxs; b) duraçäo da porçäo terminal de P em V > 0,04s; c) profundidade da fase terminal de P em V1 ò 1mm; d) de P em D2 > 0,11s; e) P bimodal com distância interpicos ò 1mm; f) presença de fibrilaçäo atrial. O padräo ouro (para correlaçäo) foi a dimensäo do AE pela ecocarfiografia (> 40 mm = aumentada). Resultados - Observaram-se as seguintes eficiências diagnósticas: fibrilaçäo atrial - 88//, índice de Morris - 75//, negatividade de P em V1 ò 1mm - 74//, P bimodal ò 0,04s em D2 - 70//, negatividade de P em V1 > 0,04s - 64// e duraçäo de P em D2 - 46//. Conclusäo - O ECG mostrou-se útil para detecçäo de aumento atrial esquerdo, com limitaçöes que variaram conforme o critério considerado. Melhor acurácia mostraram a fibrilaçäo atrial e as alteraçöes de P em V1

Purpose - To compare the accuracy of left atrial enlargement (LAE) diagnosis made by electrocardiographic criteria with those obtained using M-mode echocardiography. Methods - We studied 273 patients age 17 to 87 (mean 49) years, 115 men, white 95,5%, black 3,5% mulattos 1%, with or withouth heart disease of different etiologies. The ECG criteria studied were: a) P terminal force in V1 , ³ 0,04 mmx s; b) P1 ,force in V1 , duration > 0,04s; c) P1 ,force in V1 depth ³ lmm; d) P wave notching in D2 with interpeak distance ³ 40ms; f) presence of atrial fibrillation. The gold-standard for LAE was leit atrial dimension > 40mm obtained by echocardiography. Results - The percentage of correct diagnosis were: atrial fibrillation (88%), Morris index (75%), Ptf V1 negativity ³ lmm (74%), notched P wave in D2 with interpeack distance ³ 0,04s (70%), Ptf V1 with duration > 0, 04s (64%/) and P wave duration in D2 > 0,11s (46%). Conclusion - Conventional ECG has limited value for detecting LAE. A higher correlation was found between atrial fi- brillation and changes in P wave in V1 and the echocargraphic LAE