Abstract
To elucidate the role of dehydration in intracardiac thrombus formation in patients with acute cardiogenic brain embolism, result of repeated two-dimensional echocardiography were related to hematocrit and water-balance in 30 consecutive patients admitted within 48 hours after onset. Echocardiographic examination and measurement of hematocrit were performed on admission, and 4, 7, 10, 14, 21 and 28 days after onset.
Intracardiac thrombi were detected in eight of 30 cases (27%); four on admission and remaining four during admission. Enlargement of the intracardiac thrombi were observed in four cases, and systemic embolism recurred in three of them. Most of the cases with newly appeared and/or enlarged intracardiac thrombi showed negative water balance, while a few cases without thrombus formation did so. A reduction of diameter of the inferior vena cava and an increase in hematocrit value were also found in the former.
These data suggest that intracardiac thrombi are more frequently detected than previously reported, if echocardiographic examination is repeated with short intervals, and that dehydration considerably accelerates intracardiac thrombus formation.
