BACKGROUND To evaluate the incidence, frequency, and contributing factors of microembolic signals (MESs) in patients with cryptogenic stroke with or without patent foramen ovale (PFO). METHODS Transcranial Doppler monitoring for MESs detection was performed for 62 patients with acute cryptogenic stroke with PFO (PFO(+)) and 34 patients with acute cryptogenic stroke without PFO (PFO(-)). RES...

PURPOSE Increased seropositivity for Toxoplasma gondii and Toxocara canis have been observed in epileptic patients. Our aim is to determine whether there is any relationship between these agents and epilepsy in our cryptogenic epilepsy group. MATERIAL AND METHODS We studied specific IgG antibodies against T. gondii and T. canis in 100 cryptogenic epileptic patients and 50 healthy volunteers t...

D espite atrial fibrillation (AF) being the most common cardiac arrhythmia, its asymptomatic (and sometimes, paroxysmal) nature makes subsequent detection and diagnosis challenging. Ischemic stroke as a result of AF is usually more severe and results in greater functional loss, and patients with undetected AF will undoubtedly by at greater risk of recurrent stroke. The failure to diagnose AF af...

Background-—Magnetic resonance imaging of carotid plaque can aid in stroke risk stratification in patients with carotid stenosis. However, the prevalence of complicated carotid plaque in patients with cryptogenic stroke is uncertain, especially as assessed by plaque imaging techniques routinely included in acute stroke magnetic resonance imaging protocols. We assessed whether the magnetic reson...

Embolic strokes of undetermined source comprise a subset of cryptogenic ischemic strokes. It is thought that some embolic strokes of undetermined source could be due to left atrial thromboembolism without atrial fibrillation. The authors sought to determine whether a marker of left atrial pathological changes could pose as a surrogate marker of nonarrhythmogenic atrial thromboembolism in emboli...

Embolic strokes of undetermined source comprise a subset of cryptogenic ischemic strokes. It is thought that some embolic strokes of undetermined source could be due to left atrial thromboembolism without atrial fibrillation. The authors sought to determine whether a marker of left atrial pathological changes could pose as a surrogate marker of nonarrhythmogenic atrial thromboembolism in emboli...

Cryptogenic stroke and migraine headache are disorders which most commonly affect persons younger than 55 years of age. In recent years these disorders have been found to have a strong association with inter-atrial cardiac defects, such as patent foramen ovale and atrial septal defect, and support the pathophysiological mechanism of paradoxical embolism with a right-to-left shunt. With the evol...

BACKGROUND The reversed halo sign may sometimes be seen in patients with cryptogenic organizing pneumonia, but is rarely associated with other diseases. CASE PRESENTATION We present a case study of a 32-year-old male patient with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, who had previously been treated with chemotherapy for non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. A chest X-ray showed bilateral patchy infiltrates. ...

PURPOSE It has been suggested that mitochondrial disease may be responsible for a substantial proportion of strokes of indetermined origin. We have preliminarily screened for MELAS (mitochondrial encephalomyopathy, lactic acidosis, and stroke-like episodes) mutations in young patients with cryptogenic strokes. METHOD The mitochondrial mutations A3243G and T3271C were investigated in 38 subjec...