The cause of ischemic stroke in younger adults is undefined in as many as 35 percent of patients. We studied the prevalence of patent foramen ovale as detected by contrast echocardiography in a population of 60 adults under 55 years old with ischemic stroke and a normal cardiac examination. We compared the results with those in a control group of 100 patients. The prevalence of patent foramen ovale was significantly higher in the patients with stroke (40 percent) than in the control group (10 percent, P less than 0.001). Among the patients with stroke, the prevalence of patent foramen ovale was 21 percent in 19 patients with an identifiable cause of their stroke, 40 percent in 15 patients with no identifiable cause but a risk factor for stroke, such as mitral valve prolapse, migraine, or use of contraceptive agents, and 54 percent in 26 patients with no identifiable cause (P less than 0.10). These results suggest that because of the high prevalence of clinically latent venous thrombosis, paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale may be responsible for stroke more often than is usually suspected.

Right ventricular dysplasia is characterized by an abnormality in the development of part of the right ventricular musculature. Patients with right ventricular dysplasia may present 4 t h ventricular tachycardia, supraventricular arrhythmias, rightheart failure or asymptomatic cardiomegdy. Twenty-two adult patients with right ventricular dysplasia who had recurrent ventricular tachycardia were seen during a 7-year period. The male/female ratio was 2.7: 1. The mean age at the time of hospitalization n u 3 9 years. All but one of the patients had ventricular tachycardia of a left bundle branch block configuration. With few exceptions, the T waves were inverted over the right precordial leads. The heart was usually enlarged and the pulmonary vasculature was usually normal. In six patients who had two-dimensional echocardlograms, all showed increased right ventricular diastolic dimensions. All patients had right ventricular angiognphy; the diagnosis of right ventricular dysplasia was substantiated during surgery in 12 patients and at autopsy in another. Two other patients who did not have arrhythmias had right ventricular dysplasia diagnosed by right-and left-heart angiography.Our unique experience, when combined with a literature review of 34 adult cases, permits a composite clinical profile of this condition in the adult.

Right ventricular dysplasia is characterized by an abnormality in the development of part of the right ventricular musculature. Patients with right ventricular dysplasia may present with ventricular tachycardia, supraventricular arrhythmias, right-heart failure or asymptomatic cardiomegaly. Twenty-two adult patients with right ventricular dysplasia who had recurrent ventricular tachycardia were seen during a 7-year period. The male/female ratio was 2.7:1. The mean age at the time of hospitalization was 39 years. All but one of the patients had ventricular tachycardia of a left bundle branch block configuration. With few exceptions, the T waves were inverted over the right precordial leads. The heart was usually enlarged and the pulmonary vasculature was usually normal. In six patients who had two-dimensional echocardiograms, all showed increased right ventricular diastolic dimensions. All patients had right ventricular angiography; the diagnosis of right ventricular dysplasia was substantiated during surgery in 12 patients and at autopsy in another. Two other patients who did not have arrhythmias had right ventricular dysplasia diagnosed by right- and left-heart angiography. Our unique experience, when combined with a literature review of 34 adult cases, permits a composite clinical profile of this condition in the adult.

An independent relation exists between von Willebrand factor measured immediately after angioplasty and restenosis defined by the degree of intraluminal renarrowing. An elevated fibrinogen level during follow-up is a strong biochemical predictor of restenosis. Therefore, fibrinogen should be considered at least as an independent marker of restenosis and perhaps as a common risk factor for both spontaneous coronary atherosclerosis and postangioplasty restenosis, which is an accelerated form of atherosclerosis.

A study of factors predicting mortality was performed in 201 patients with dilated cardiomyopathy (163 men, 38 women, mean age: 48 +/- 11 years) by multivariate analysis (Cox Model) of 51 clinical, electrocardiographic, echocardiographic and haemodynamic parameters, 56 patients died during follow-up (mean follow-up: 57.1 +/- 29.9 months). 5 year survival was 77 +/- 3%. The following parameters were independent predictors of mortality: first symptom: pulmonary oedema, peripheral oedema, syncope; duration of symptoms at the time of inclusion; end systolic left ventricular volume; end diastolic left ventricular diameter; pulmonary artery systolic pressure; and their combination had the most accurate predictive value for death. A quantitative score (s) was calculated and used to define three subgroups: A:s less than or equal to 4.5; B: 4.5 less than s less than 6; C:s greater than or equal to 6. Five-year survival was 90 +/- 5% in group A; 84 +/- 4% in B and only 53 +/- 7% in C. In conclusion, overall survival was good in this population of all stage dilated cardiomyopathy; factors related to clinical severity, left ventricular dilation, systolic pulmonary artery pressure and duration of symptoms defined a subgroup of patients with poor prognosis.