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Cardiac causes of ischemic stroke lead to severe neurological deficits from large intracranial artery occlusion compared to small vessel ischemic stroke.The most common cause of cardioembolic stroke is atrial fibrillation, which has an increasing incidence with age.Atrial fibrillation stroke trials demonstrate anticoagulation is superior to antiplatelet therapy in terms of ischemic stroke prevention.Recently warfarin was compared against dabigatran an oral, direct thrombin inhibitor, and found at least equally effective in reducing ischemic stroke with less intracranial bleeding risk.Future research is investigating other direct thrombin inhibitors as potential alternatives to warfarin, which has a narrow therapeutic index, requires frequent blood monitoring, has multiple drug interactions, and a higher rate of intracranial bleeding.Other causes of cardioembolic stroke include myocardial infarction, left ventricular thrombus, reduced ejection fraction, valvular abnormalities, and endocarditis.Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a common finding on echocardiograms in patients with and without stroke (up to 20% of population), and a controversial source of cryptogenic stroke.The best way to prevent cardioembolic stroke remains early detection and treatment of atrial fibrillation, and treating the underlying stroke mechanism.Cardiac MRI is an emerging technology and reveals some sources of cardiac embolism missed by echocardiography, and might provide an additional diagnostic tool in investigating cardioembolic stroke.