A Bioclinical Pattern for the Early Diagnosis of Cardioembolic Stroke
Table 1
Demographic and clinical features in 114 patients with stroke according to TOAST classification.
Cardioembolic
Large-artery atherosclerosis
Small-vessel occlusion (lacune)
Undetermined aetiology
value*
4
4
Demographics
Females
12 (35%)
15 (56%)
11 (58%)
13 (38%)
0.22
Males
22 (65%)
12 (44%)
8 (42%)
21 (62%)
Age, mean (SD)
75.9 (8)
74.1 (9)
69.8 (13.7)
71.3 (14)
0.50
History
Smoking
5 (15%)
7 (26%)
7 (37%)
7 (21%)
0.30
Hypertension
26 (76%)
23 (85%)
15 (79%)
24 (71%)
0.60
Dyslipidaemia
21 (62%)
17 (63%)
10 (52%)
15 (44%)
0.39
Diabetes
4 (12%)
11 (41%)
2 (10%)
2 (6%)
0.002
Previous stroke
8 (23%)
11 (41%)
2 (10%)
4 (12%)
0.03
Event
Atrial fibrillation at the ER admission
28 (82%)**
4 (15%)
3 (16%)
3 (9%)
0.001
Left atrial enlargement***
15 (56%)
8 (40%)
3 (19%)
7 (28%)
0.07
Baseline NIHSS score, median (1–3)
14.0 (9.0–19.0)
9.0 (6.0–16.0)
6.0 (5.0–7.0)
7.5 (6.0–13.0)
0.0001
3-month mortality
10 (29%)
7 (26%)
1 (5%)
1 (12%)
0.08
Location****
Lacunar infarct (LACI)
2 (6%)
10 (37%)
18 (95%)
2 (6%)
0.001
Partial anterior circulation infarct (PACI)
9 (26%)
8 (30%)
1 (5%)
20 (59%)
Total anterior circulation infarct (TACI)
23 (68%)
8 (30%)
0 (0%)
9 (26%)
Posterior circulation infarct (POCI)
0 (0%)
1 (3.7)
0 (0%)
3 (9%)
Abbreviations: 1: first quartile; 3: third quartile; SD: standard deviation; ED: emergency department.
*From chi-square (categorical) or Kruskal-Wallis test (continuous variables).
**Of the six patients with CES without AF at the emergency department, one had an echocardiographic finding of thrombus in the left atrium and five had developed AF during the hospital stay.
***Based on 88 (27, 20, 16, and 25) US echocardiographic examinations.
****According to Oxford Community Stroke Project (OCSP) classifications.
