Echocardiography is a useful clinical tool to identify patients with large anterior myocardial infarcts who would benefit from continued anticoagulation to prevent embolic stroke.
Supports echocardiography-guided anticoagulation in large anterior MI; leaves open need for prospective validation.
Embolic stroke remains an important cause of morbidity after myocardial infarction, even in the thrombolytic era. Left ventricular mural thrombi and subsequent embolization can be prevented by early systemic anticoagulation of patients with large anterior myocardial infarcts. Echocardiography has been instrumental in refining our understanding of the pathophysiology of this disorder and is a useful clinical tool in the identification of patients who would benefit from continued anticoagulation.
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Paul T. Vaitkus (1995) studied this question.