Clot-causing Heart Pocket May Raise Stroke Risk

Washington, Jan 20 – A pouch-like structure inside the heart may be a potent source of stroke-causing blood clots, according to cardiologists.

The structure lies in the left atrium, which is one of the four heart chambers that receives oxygenated blood from the pulmonary veins and pumps it into the left ventricle (chamber).

About 80 percent of the 700,000-plus strokes that occur annually in the US are due to blood clots blocking a brain artery. In up to a third of these cases, the clots’ origin cannot be determined.

Study co-author Subramaniam Krishnan, cardiologist at University of California-Irvine (UC-I), said the discovery of this left atrial pouch could provide answers and add to neurologists’ efforts to prevent stroke recurrences.

Krishnan, who did his Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) from Medical School, University Of Madras, India, in 1988 and Miguel Salazar of UC-I first spotted the pouch during autopsy research, said a UC-I release.

Subsequent ultrasound and Computerized Tomography (CT) scans of patients’ hearts confirmed the finding. The researchers estimate that the anatomical feature, which Krishnan likened to a kangaroo pouch, is present in 30 to 35 percent of individuals.

The results appeared in the January issue of Journal of the American College of Cardiology: Cardiovascular Interventions.

Posted by Vamban on Jan 20, 2010 @ 2:49 PM Filed under America, World News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry