Evaluation of costs and outcome in cardioembolic stroke or TIA.

The costs of acute stroke care, length of hospital stay (LOS), and outcome in patients with cardioembolic stroke or cardioembolic transient ischemic attacks (TIA) were investigated with the aim of estimating the clinical and health-economic impacts of cerebral cardioembolism. The study population consisted of 511 consecutive patients with the diagnosis of ischemic stroke (n = 379) or TIA (n = 132) treated at the Department of Neurology, Philipps University, Marburg. Cerebral cardioembolism was defined according to the criteria of the Cerebral Embolism Task Force.