Except for Atrial Fibrillation, What Are the Cardiac Sources of Stroke?
Except for atrial fibrillation, the other cardiac sources of embolism are the following: (1) Acute myocardial infarction: Stroke occurs as a complication in 2-4% of patients with myocardial infarction (MI). Stroke seems to be more common after an anterior infarct. Embolization is most common within the first 3-4 months, with the highest risk in the first month. Thus, it is important to exclude acute MI in all patients who present with stroke and to recall that more than 20% of nonfatal MI are silent. (2) Dilated cardiomyopathy: Patients with dilated cardiomyopathy have high incidence of left-ventricular thrombus formation and are at increased risk of embolic complications. (3) Atrial septal aneurysm: This condition is a redundancy of the tissue of the fossa ovalis affecting less than 1% of the population (autopsy data). It is rarely associated with embolic events. (4) Patent foramen ovale: Persistent patency of the foramen ovale may be considered as a normal anatomic variant, found in
