Left Atrial Enlargement on Transthoracic Echocardiography Predicts Left Atrial Thrombus on Transesophageal Echocardiography in Ischemic Stroke Patients
Table 1
Indications for transthoracic echocardiography versus transesophageal imaging for embolism detection (adapted from [12]).
TTE
TEE
Patients ā„45 years with a neurologic event and no identified cerebrovascular disease
Patients <45 years without known cardiovascular disease (i.e., absence of infarction or valvular disease history)
Any patient with an abrupt occlusion of a major peripheral or visceral artery
Patients with a high pretest probability of a cardiac embolic source in whom a negative TTE would be likely to be falsely negative
Patients with a high suspicion of left ventricular apical thrombus
Patients with atrial fibrillation and suspected left atrial or left atrial appendage thrombus, especially in the absence of therapeutic anticoagulation
Patients in whom TEE is contraindicated (e.g., esophageal stricture, unstable hemodynamic status) or who refuse TEE
