Revision of Echocardiographic Indications and Findings in Neurologically Ill Patients

Background and Objective: Little is known about the general indications for echocardiography and the prevalence of abnormalities detected by echocardiography in patients who are referred from a neurological department. Left ventricular hypertrabeculation/noncompaction (LVHT) is associated with neuromuscular disorders and embolism. The aim of the study was to assess the indications for echocardiography in patients from a neurological department and to review the cine-loops of the examinations in order to assess the frequency of abnormal echocardiographic findings with special regard to LVHT. Methods and Results: Included were 126 patients, 58 females (mean age 65 years). Indications were stroke (84%), heart failure (6%), endocarditis (6%) and arrhythmia (3%). The most frequent abnormalities were impaired relaxation (71%) and left ventricular wall thickening (63%). Females were older (68 vs . 62 years, p = 0.0214) and more frequently had normally sized left ventricles than males (98 vs . 88%, p = 0.0376). Patients ≥66 years more frequently had stroke as an indication (91 vs . 77%, p = 0.05), showed a thickened myocardium (72 vs . 53%, p = 0.0272), valvular abnormalities (52 vs . 13%, p = 0.0000) and impaired relaxation (86 vs . 54%, p = 0.0001) than patients <66 years. LVHT was diagnosed in 3 patients; in one of them the diagnosis was already known. In 45% LVHT and in 38% left ventricular thrombus could neither be excluded nor established since the image quality was poor. Conclusion: Care should be taken to visualize the left ventricular apical regions when investigating patients referred from a neurologic department in order not to overlook LVHT and thrombi within the left ventricular apex.