ABSTRACT
Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and disability in the developed countries. Detection of sources of embolism is important to understand the cause of stroke and to prevent further stroke attacks. Since the heart is often the origin of an occlusive embolus with subsequent migration to a target organ, imaging of the heart is clinically valuable. Several modalities, including cardiac computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), are used to identify cardiac embolic sources. However, transthoracic echocardiography and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) are the most commonly used among them because of their high diagnostic capabilities and low invasiveness.1 This has been clarified in the ACC/AHA guidelines that consider echocardiography as an appropriate tool for examining patients with embolic events.2 Table 7.1 shows the indications for echocardiography in patients with neurologic events or other vascular occlusive events shown in the guidelines.
