Prevalence of Left Atrial Septal Pouch Among Patients with Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source Or Stroke of Known Etiology: a Retrospective Study

Hugo Steyaert; Jose Castro Rodriguez; Marie-Dominique Gazagnes; Marielle Morissens

doi:10.2478/jtim-2022-0032

Prevalence of Left Atrial Septal Pouch Among Patients with Embolic Stroke of Undetermined Source Or Stroke of Known Etiology: a Retrospective Study

J Transl Int Med. 2022 Apr 9;10(1):48-55. doi: 10.2478/jtim-2022-0032. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Hugo Steyaert¹, Jose Castro Rodriguez², Marie-Dominique Gazagnes³, Marielle Morissens²

Affiliations

¹ Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1050, Belgium.
² Cardiology Department, CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1020, Belgium.
³ Neurology department, CHU Brugmann, Université Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels 1020, Belgium.

Abstract

Background and objectives: Cryptogenic strokes can be defined by the criteria established for an embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS). Some embolic events might be caused by a left atrial septal pouch (LASP), due to the potential of thrombus formation. In this study we aimed to determine if LASP is a risk factor for ESUS when compared to a population of strokes of known origin, the LASP screening rate in our institution and if LASP dimensions influences the risk of ESUS.

Methods: We retrospectively analyzed transesophageal echocardiograms (TEEs) in a large cohort of patients that had experienced ischemic strokes. Two authors performed blinded, independent searches for LASPs by reviewing 1152 TEEs from patients that had experienced a stroke or transient ischemic attack. We excluded 26 TEEs, due to incorrect imaging. Next, we reviewed patient medical files.

Results: Among the 1126 included patients, 148 had an ESUS (ESUS+ group) and 978 had strokes of known origin (ESUS- group). A LASP was present in 176 patients, including 32 patients (21.6% of LASPs) in the ESUS+ group and 144 patients (14.7% of LASPs) in the ESUS- group. In multivariate analysis, LASP was independently associated with ESUS (P = 0,019). 61.9% of LASPs that we found were not mentioned in reports from the original TEE operators.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that LASPs were more prevalent in patients with ESUS than in patients with strokes of known origin. Our results gave rise to the question of whether anticoagulation would be appropriate for some patients with ESUS. New large-scale, prospective studies should be conducted to address this issue. Additionally, considering the low rate of LASP descriptions, we concluded that the awareness of operators should be raised to improve their success in identifying LASPs.

Keywords: cryptogenic stroke; embolic stroke of undetermined source; left atrial septal pouch; transesophageal echocardiography.