Evaluation of causal heart diseases in cardioembolic stroke by cardiac computed tomography

Cardioembolic stroke is a potentially devastating condition and tends to have a poor prognosis compared with other ischemic stroke subtypes.Therefore,it is important for proper therapeutic management to identify a cardiac source of embolism in stroke patients.Cardiac computed tomography(CCT)can detect the detailed visualization of various cardiac pathologies in the cardiac chambers,interatrial and interventricular septum,valves,and myocardium with few motion artifacts and few dead angles.Multiphase reconstruction images of the entire cardiac cycle make it possible to demonstrate cardiac structures in a dynamic manner.Consequently,CCT has the ability to provide high-quality information about causal heart disease in cardioembolic stroke.In addition,CCT can simultaneously evaluate obstructive coronary artery disease,which may be helpful in surgical planning in patients who need urgent surgery,such as cardiac tumors or infective endocarditis.This review will introduce the potential clinical applications of CCT in an ischemic stroke population,with a focus on diagnosing cardioembolic sources using CCT.

Bioinformatic analysis for potential biological processes and key targets of heart failure-related stroke

This study aimed to uncover underlying mechanisms and promising intervention targets of heart failure(HF)-related stroke.HF-related dataset GSE42955 and stroke-related dataset GSE58294 were obtained from the Gene Expression Omnibus(GEO)database.Weighted gene co-expression network analysis(WGCNA)was conducted to identify key modules and hub genes.Gene Ontology(GO)and pathway enrichment analyses were performed on genes in the key modules.Genes in HF-and stroke-related key modules were intersected to obtain common genes for HF-related stroke,which were further intersected with hub genes of stroke-related key modules to obtain key genes in HF-related stroke.Key genes were functionally annotated through GO in the Reactome and Cytoscape databases.Finally,key genes were validated in these two datasets and other datasets.HF-and stroke-related datasets each identified two key modules.Functional enrichment analysis indicated that protein ubiquitination,Wnt signaling,and exosomes were involved in both HF-and stroke-related key modules.Additionally,ten hub genes were identified in stroke-related key modules and 155 genes were identified as common genes in HF-related stroke.OTU deubiquitinase with linear linkage specificity(OTULIN)and nuclear factor interleukin 3-regulated(NFIL3)were determined to be the key genes in HF-related stroke.Through functional annotation,OTULIN was involved in protein ubiquitination and Wnt signaling,and NFIL3 was involved in DNA binding and transcription.Importantly,OTULIN and NFIL3 were also validated to be differentially expressed in all HF and stroke groups.Protein ubiquitination,Wnt signaling,and exosomes were involved in HF-related stroke.OTULIN and NFIL3 may play a key role in HF-related stroke through regulating these processes,and thus serve as promising intervention targets.