Hemorrhagic infarction on CT in cardioembolic stroke.
CT-scans of 103 patients anticoagulated following cardioembolic stroke were evaluated. Data were taken from a prospective registry on the risk of early anticoagulant treatment in patients with cardioembolic stroke. Ninety-three patients had CT within 24 hours after stroke onset. Sixty-six of 103 CT-scans showed infarction. On initial CT five hemorrhagic infarcts were found (5%). Of 35 follow-up CT-scans randomly performed during anticoagulant treatment, six (= 17%) showed hemorrhagic infarction without clinical worsening. It is argued that a cardioembolic cause of stroke cannot be infered by the presence of HI on CT. In patients with a cardioembolic stroke the value of CT lies in minimizing the risk of early anticoagulant treatment.
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002543:Cerebral Hemorrhage / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D002542:Intracranial Embolism and Thrombosis / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011379:Prognosis; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed