ABSTRACT
Introduction@#In Mongolia, data on the etiology and risk factors of cardioembolic stroke (CES) is scarce and few clinical studies have been performed to date. Timely identification and control of cardiovascular risk factors are priority objectives for adequate primary and secondary prevention of CES.@*Goal@#The goal of this study was to describe risk factors for CES in our setting. @*Results@#The case-control study enrolled a total of 525 subjects. CES was detected in 63 (35.7%) out of 176 (33.5%) ischemic stroke patients with a predominance in age group of 60-69 and men (33%). The main risk factor of CES was non-valvular atrial fibrillation (AF). AF especially paroxysmal AF increased the risk of CES by 4.6 times (p=<0.0001, OR 4.6, 95% CI 1.4-44.6). The second main cerebrovascular risk factors were hypertension and dyslipidemia.@*Conclusion@#CES accounted for 1/3 of ischemic stroke. The commonest underlying medical conditions were non-valvular atrial fibrillation, hypertension, dyslipidemia, alcohol consumption and obesity. Hence, all patients with hypertension and non-valvular AF should be meticulously screened for prevention of CES.