Detection of cardioembolic sources with echocardiography.

Cerebral ischemic events remain a common cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Although the majority of patients with strokes have cerebrovascular disease, up to 20% of stroke patients have a cardioembolic source, especially younger patients or those with associated cardiac disease. TTE offers limited potential for identifying a cardioembolic source. In contrast, TEE is superior in detecting most cardioembolic sources and should be considered in stroke patients in whom there is a high clinical suspicion for a cardiac source of embolus and whose TTE is technically difficult or negative (Table 3).