Evaluation of Echocardiography Results in Patients with Acute Cerebrovascular Accidents (CVA)

Background and Objective: Cerebrovascular accidents are one of the most common causes of disability and mortality in human population all over the world. Several factors such as age, sex, hypertension, hyperlipidemia and heart diseases are risk factors for stroke. Due to high prevalence of cerebrovascular accidents and its related risk factors and particularly heart diseases, we decided to study echocardiography findings in patients with cerebrovascular accidents. Materials and Methods: This descriptive study was conducted on ۳۷۲ cerebrovascular patients who had been admitted to Zanjan Vali-e-Asr hospital in ۲۰۰۸. The data such as gender, age, type of cerebrovascular accidents, underlying disease and findings of echocardiography were collected and then they analyzed by appropriate software. Results: Of ۳۷۲ patients, ۱۸۱ were men (۴۸.۶%) and ۱۹۱ were women (۵۱.۴%). Systolic function in ۳۲۱ cases (۸۶.۳%) was normal and it was abnormal in ۵۱ cases (۱۳.۷%). Diastolic function in ۳۰۴ cases (۸۱.۹%) was normal and in ۶۸ cases (۱۸.۱%) was abnormal. Twenty -two cases had mitral stenosis and ۱۹۸ patients had mitral regurgitation, whereas ۲۳ cases showed both of them. Nine cases had aortic stenosis; similarly ۸۰ cases were found with aortic regurgitation and only ۵ cases had both of them. ۱۶۵ cases were found with tricuspid regurgitation, while ۱ case had both regurgitation and stenosis. Sixty- three cases had ejection fraction below ۴۰%. In one case there was a clot. Conclusion: High frequency of abnormal echocardiography findings in stroke leading to cardiac disorders is one of the most important risk factor of stroke. Thus, with echocardiography which is a non-invasive technique, many of heart problems can be diagnosed and consequently occurrence of cerebrovascular accidents can be prevented or treated.

Keywords:

Stroke , Echocardiography , Risk factor