Ischemic cardiopathy and other heart disorders: differences in risk of cerebrovascular disease and in its association with carotid obstruction.

A series of 1003 patients examined by cervical Doppler is reviewed, stressing differences between ischemic cardiopathies and other heart diseases as to the risk of carotid cerebrovascular disease (CVD) and its pathogenesis. The authors find that in ischemic heart disease the risk of stroke is almost entirely linked to severe carotid obstruction; in other cardiac disorders (rheumatic valvulopathies, arrhythmias etc.) this risk is independent from arterial damage, and the risk subsequent to an associated carotid stenosis does not differ from that of the general population.