title: Echocardiographic abnormalities in patients with stroke during the subacute rehabilitation phase.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate cardiac function using echocardiography in patients with stroke admitted to subacute rehabilitation units.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective, cross-sectional study.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 750 consecutive patients with stroke who were admitted to a suburban rehabilitation hospital. Mean age 67.5 years (standard deviation (SD) 12.3 years). Mean time since stroke 36.7 days (SD 13.2 days).
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients were assessed using transthoracic echocardiography within 7 days of admission. The prevalence of echocardiographic abnormalities was analysed and compared between cerebral infarction and haemorrhage using the Mantel-Haenszel method controlled for age.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Arrhythmias were found in 13.7% of the patients, 94.2% of whom had atrial fibrillation. Left atrial enlargement and left ventricular hypertrophy were found in 20.4% and 19.5% of all patients, respectively. Left ventricular asynergy was detected in 6.1% of all patients, but 47.8% of them had no history of myocardial infarction. Left ventricular ejection fraction was low in 12.2% of all patients. Abnormal rhythms and left atrial enlargement were significantly more frequent in patients with cerebral infarction than in those with cerebral haemorrhage (p < 0.01).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The prevalence of cardiac problems is high among patients with subacute stroke regardless of a history of heart disease, and this should be taken into account when planning rehabilitation programmes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, Keio University School of Medicine, , Japan.
authors.forename: Masahiro
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsujikawa
authors.forename: Yohei
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Otaka
authors.forename: Rei
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hasegawa
authors.forename: Kunitsugu
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kondo
authors.forename: Meigen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Liu
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006331:Heart Diseases / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D006801:Humans; D017379:Hypertrophy, Left Ventricular / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D020521:Stroke / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000453:epidemiology; D000071939:Stroke Rehabilitation; D014463:Ultrasonography