Cardiac organ damage in young adults with cryptogenic ischaemic stroke: the SECRETO study

Rune Krogh Eilertsen; Eva Gerdts; Ulrike Waje-Andreassen; Dana Cramariuc; Rasmus Bach Sindre; Jani Pirinen; Satu Suihko; Tomi Sarkanen; Marko Virtanen; Essi Ryödi; Pekka Jäkälä; Marja Hedman; Petra Redfors; Odd Bech-Hanssen; Juha Huhtakangas; Pauli Ylikotila; Riikka Lautamäki; Antti Saraste; Bettina von Sarnowski; Raila Busch; Ana Catarina Fonseca; Ana G Almeida; Patricia Martínez-Sánchez; Janika Kõrv; Piibe Muda; Phillip Ferdinand; Cheryl Oxley; Diana Zakarkaitė; Kristina Ryliškienė; Nicolas Martinez-Majander; Juha Sinisalo; Jukka Putaala; Helga Midtbø

doi:10.1007/s40292-026-00789-2

Title	Cardiac organ damage in young adults with cryptogenic ischaemic stroke: the SECRETO study
Authors	Eilertsen, Rune Krogh ; Gerdts, Eva ; Waje-Andreassen, Ulrike ; Cramariuc, Dana ; Sindre, Rasmus Bach ; Pirinen, Jani ; Suihko, Satu ; Sarkanen, Tomi ; Virtanen, Marko ; Ryödi, Essi ; Jäkälä, Pekka ; Hedman, Marja ; Redfors, Petra ; Bech-Hanssen, Odd ; Huhtakangas, Juha ; Ylikotila, Pauli ; Lautamäki, Riikka ; Saraste, Antti ; von Sarnowski, Bettina ; Busch, Raila ; Fonseca, Ana Catarina ; Almeida, Ana G ; Martínez-Sánchez, Patricia ; Kõrv, Janika ; Muda, Piibe ; Ferdinand, Phillip ; Oxley, Cheryl ; Zakarkaitė, Diana ; Ryliškienė, Kristina ; Martinez-Majander, Nicolas ; Sinisalo, Juha ; Putaala, Jukka ; Midtbø, Helga
DOI	10.1007/s40292-026-00789-2
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Is Part of	High blood pressure and cardiovascular prevention.. Springer Nature. 2026, vol. 33, p. 453-462.. ISSN 1120-9879. eISSN 1179-1985
Keywords [eng]	blood pressure ; hypertension ; ischaemic stroke ; obesity ; organ damage
Abstract [eng]	Introduction: Cardiac organ damage (OD) is associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease. However, limited knowledge exists on cardiac OD in young patients with cryptogenic ischaemic stroke (CIS). Aim: To explore prevalence and covariates of cardiac OD in patients with CIS compared to controls participating in the SECRETO study. Methods: We analysed data from 427 patients with CIS aged <50 years and 361 age- and sex-matched controls. OD was defined as presence of abnormal left ventricular (LV) geometry (LV hypertrophy or concentric remodelling) or left atrial enlargement (LAE) assessed by echocardiography, using sex-specific threshold values. Results: Compared to controls, patients had higher prevalences of obesity and tobacco smoking, patent foramen ovale (PFO) (52% vs. 25%) and abnormal LV geometry (12% vs. 7%, all p < 0.01), while presence of LAE did not differ. In multivariable analyses, CIS was associated with presence of abnormal LV geometry (odds ratio 1.86 [95% confidence interval 1.09–3.20], p=0.024). In separate multivariable analyses in patients only, obesity was associated with both abnormal LV geometry and LAE (both p < 0.01), and higher systolic blood pressure only with presence of abnormal LV geometry (p < 0.001). No significant association with PFO was found. Conclusion: In young patients with CIS participating in the SECRETO study, abnormal LV geometry was more prevalent compared to age- and sex-matched controls and associated with presence of higher blood pressure and obesity. The results point to the importance of blood pressure and weight control in CIS to prevent progression of cardiac OD and recurrent cardiovascular events.
Published	Springer Nature
Type	Journal article
Language	English
Publication date	2026
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„Cardiac organ damage in young adults with cryptogenic ischaemic stroke: the SECRETO study“