Key result
AF drives most visceral embolisms, requiring early high-resolution imaging to prevent organ loss.
Why the study?
Atrial fibrillation is the main etiological factor of visceral embolisms, but the clinical manifestations, diagnosis, prognosis, and treatment of cardioembolic visceral infarcts remain incompletely characterized.
Cardioembolic visceral infarction is a rare but serious complication of atrial fibrillation that requires early diagnosis with high-resolution imaging (contrast CT/MRI) to enable revascularization and preserve organ function.
Supports vigilance for visceral embolisms in AF; leaves open prospective validation of imaging strategies before practice change.
Based on the analysis of publications of the last ten years this article discusses the problem of renal and splenic infarcts resulting from acute visceral artery emboli as one of the potential causes of abdominal pain in patients with atrial fibrillation. It has been shown that atrial fibrillation is the main etiological factor of visceral embolisms. The results of a series of observations of visceral infarction are summarized, which, given the rarity of this pathology, allows us to form a complete picture of this pathology. The authors emphasize the interdisciplinary nature of this problem, focusing on the fact that it may be encountered by specialists from different medical fields – surgeons, cardiologists, and neurologists. The clinical manifestations of visceral infarction are described as highly variable and nonspecific, with pain, laboratory markers of inflammation, and elevation of lactate dehydrogenase and D-dimer levels being the most common. The authors emphasize the importance of high-resolution methods of radiation diagnostics, such as computed tomography with intravenous contrast and magnetic resonance imaging, to clarify the diagnosis. Particular attention is paid to the need for early diagnosis to enable revascularization and preservation of the function of the affected organ, while late diagnosis emphasizes the prevention of recurrent cardioemboli and symptomatic treatment. The analyzed literature sources did not contain information about the development of complications of visceral infarction which would require surgical treatment. The analysis of the late outcomes of renal infarction showed the development of chronic renal failure and malignant arterial hypertension in half of the patients. There have been no reports of the development of any complications and mortality directly related to spleen infarction in the analyzed articles. The article also addresses the issues of prognosis, effective prevention and treatment of cardioembolic visceral infarcts, emphasizing the need for further research in this area.
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Otdelnov et al. (2025) conducted a review in Cardioembolic visceral infarction. Atrial fibrillation was evaluated. Atrial fibrillation is the main etiological factor for visceral embolisms, which present with nonspecific symptoms and require early diagnosis via high-resolution imaging to preserve organ function.
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