Clinical features and outcomes of microemboli-positive patients with atherosclerotic infarction

ZHU Chuan-ying; ZHAO Sheng-li; WANG Min

doi:10.3760/cma.j.issn.1673-4777.2010.09.023

Abstract：Objective To compare the clinical characteristics of acute cerebral infarction patients with or without microembolic signal ( MES) and to investigate the prognosis of MES. Methods Acute cerebral infarction patients (within 7 days) were included into our study. Thirty minutes of transcranial doppler(TCD) monitoring for MES was performed on admission and on 7th day after admission. Diffusion weighted imagin ( DW1) was performed on admission to investigate the number of new infarctions. Clinical data including risk factors, NIHSS and drugs were recorded detailed. Results Thirty-one patients were enrolled into our study, among which 12 patients were found with MES. The NIHSS in patients with MES was found lower than that in patient without MES(3.83 ±3. 16 vs 7.00 ±3.93, P=0.026). The frequency of MES in female was found higher than that in male(6/12 vs 3/19, P =0.056). The age of patients with MES was younger than that of patients without MES(60. 17 ± 18.91 vs 68. 79 ± 11.44, P =0.174). The patients with MES was found with more frequency of multiple infarcts on DWI(6/12 vs 4/ 15, P =0. 093). The medium of MES number reduced significantly on day 7(8 vs 1, P =0.041) , among which 5 patients were found disappearance of MES on day 7. Conclusions The acute cerebral infarct patients with large artery stenosis and MES are younger than those without MES and the severity of stroke was not as severe as those without MES. Multiple infarets can be found much more frequently in patients with MES than those without MES. The MES maybe disappear as time goes by and may be due to the use of antiplatelet drugs.