• Jorge Pagola, Teresa González-Alujas, Marian Muchada, Gisela Teixidó, Alan Flores, Sophie De Blauwe, Laia Seró, David Rodríguez Luna, Marta Rubiera, Marc Ribó, Sandra Boned, José Álvarez-Sabin, Arturo Evangelista, and Carlos A Molina.
• Stroke Unit and Cerebral Hemodynamics, Department of Neurology, Vall d´Hebrón General Hospital, Barcelona, Spain.
• J Neuroimaging. 2015 May 1;25(3):365-9.

Background And PurposeCardiac Echoscan is the simplified transthoracic echocardiogram focused on the main source of emboli detection in the acute stroke diagnosis (Stroke Echoscan). We describe the clinical impact related to the Stroke Echoscan protocol in our Center.MethodsAcute stroke patients who underwent the Stroke Echoscan by a trained stroke neurologist were included (Echoscan group). All examinations were reviewed by cardiologists. The main embolic stroke etiologies were: ventricular akinesia (VA), severe aortic atheroma (AA) plaque and cardiac shunt (SHUNT). The rate of the embolic stroke etiologies and the median length of stay (LOS) were compared with a cohort of patients studied by cardiologist (Echo group).ResultsEighty acute stroke patients were included. The sensitivity (S) and specificity (E) were: VA (S 98.6%, E 66.7%, k = .7), AA (S 93.3%, E 96.9%, k = .88) and SHUNT (S 100%, E 100%, k = 1), respectively. The rate of AA diagnosis was significantly higher in Echoscan group (18.8% vs. 8.9%; P = .05). Echoscan protocol significantly reduced the LOS: 6 days (IQR 3-10) versus Echo group 9 days (IQR 6-13; P < .001).ConclusionThe Echoscan protocol was an accurate quick test, which reduced the length of stay and increased the percentage of severe AA plaque diagnosis.Copyright © 2014 by the American Society of Neuroimaging.

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