Cryptogenic stroke and diabetes: a probable link between silent atrial fibrillation episodes and cerebrovascular disease.

Diabetes mellitus is a risk factor for cardiovascular and cerebrovascular events independently of other factors such as age, sex, BMI and blood pressure. Diabetes plays an important role in the pathogenesis of atrial fibrillation because it causes alterations to the autonomic nervous system. It may also be associated with an increased prevalence of asymptomatic episodes of atrial fibrillation, which cause cerebrovascular disease more often than chronic atrial fibrillation. The presence of silent cerebral ischemia doubles the risk of stroke in the general population independently of other cardiovascular risk factors; therefore, early detection of these episodes is important to determine preventive measures against the first cerebrovascular disease.