Acute cardioembolic stroke: an update.

Cardioembolic infarction is the most severe ischemic stroke subtype, but some clinical characteristics of the disease are still poorly defined. An update of relevant aspects related to clinical manifestations, biological characteristics, prognostic implications and treatment is presented in this article. Topics discussed include epidemiology and risk factors, clinical features and prognosis, cardiac work-up studies, patent foramen ovale, complex atheromatosis of the aortic arch, blood biomarkers, heart failure, and thrombolytic and anti-thrombotic therapy. Cardioembolic infarction is an important topic at the frontier between cardiology and vascular neurology, occurs frequently in daily practice, has a high impact for patients, healthcare systems and society, and merits an updated review of current clinical issues, advances and controversies.