Stroke remains a leading cause of death, but the disability associated with a stroke can be devastating and costly. In past decades, little could be done to reduce the morbidity and mortality of stroke. But over the past decade, use of thrombolytics by specialized stroke centers has reduced the morbidity of survivors. However, the reduction of morbidity comes at a cost of an increase in intracerebral hemorrhage, often associated with death.
In an effort to reduce unnecessary testing, these investigators performed a retrospective observational study of 671 TEE-guided direct current cardioversions (DCC) for atrial fibrillation (AF) to evaluate the indications used for TEE and the outcomes with regard to thromboembolism post DCC.
Early surgery for infective endocarditis (IE) has been supported by several observational studies, but the lack of randomized, controlled data has led to conflicting recommendations by major societies.
