Resumen

RAMIREZ, Pablo et al. Age above 70 years-old and smoking habit predict the presence of complicated aortic plaques in patients with stroke and no evidence of heart disease. Rev Chil Cardiol [online]. 2012, vol.31, n.1, pp. 18-22. ISSN 0718-8560.  doi: 10.4067/S0718-85602012000100002.

Background: Cerebrovascular accident (CVA) is the second most frequent cause of death in Chilean adults, accounting for 20^10% of cases. In patients with no clinical or trans thoracic echocardiographic (TTE) evidence of heart disease, transesophageal echo (TEE) may reveal the presence of complicated aortic plaques (CAP) as an etiologic factor for CVA. Aim: to evaluate clinical predictors of CAP that may help select patients for TEE in search for a cause of CVA. Method: 398 patients with ischemic CVA admitted to a general hospital from Jan 2008 through Dec 2010 were screened. 112 were excluded due to the presence of arrhythmia or an abnormal TTE. The remaining 286 patients underwent TEE in search of CAP. Clinical and echocardiographic findings were compared between patients with or without CAP Chi square, Fisher's exact test, Mann Whitney U test and binary logistic regression were used for analysis. Results: Aortic plaques were detected in 57% of patients, CAP being present in 11.2%. Multivariate analysis identified age above 60 years old (OR 6.23, p<0.001) and smoking habit (OR 4.89, p<0.001) as independent predictors of CAP. Conclusion: These findings suggest that TEE should be more strongly considered in the study of patients with CVA who are above 60 years old or smoke.

Palabras clave : stroke; cardioembolic; aortic plaque.