[Usefulness of Doppler echocardiography in patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease].

We carried out transthoracic Doppler echocardiography on 213 patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease to examine cardiac functions. The prevalence of valvular regurgitation, left ventricular diastolic function (E/A ratio), and ejection fraction (EF) of each patient were studied by transthoracic Doppler echocardiography. In patients with embolic strokes, the prevalence of valvular regurgitation of the left ventricular system such as mitral regurgitation was significantly higher than that of normal controls. In contrast, there was no significant difference in the prevalence of valvular regurgitation in the right ventricular system. Although there was no significant difference in the ejection fraction between groups, the E/A ratio in patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease showed a significantly lower value than that in normal controls. Patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease showed a tendency to have an atherosclerotic change in the systemic arteries including cerebral and coronary arteries, reflecting an aggravation of cardiac wall compliance and diastolic dysfunction resulting in lowering of the E/A ratio. Thus, transthoracic Doppler echocardiography was useful to evaluate cardiac diastolic dysfunction and valvular regurgitation in patients with ischemic cerebrovascular disease.