PFO and the Heart

PFO and the heart more than meets the eye!

PFO Closure: CLOSURE.

T he optimal secondary prevention strategy in patients presenting with a cryptogenic stroke or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is uncertain. In the United States, closure of a PFO using a percutaneous transcatheter device is currently considered investigational by the Food and Drug Administration. Nonetheless, many patients in this setting are treated off-label ...

Association between PFO and neurological decompression illness

Greco et al. described a case of a 12-year-old girl who presented symptoms of stroke after diving into the sea [1]. An ischemic lesion in the lenticular nucleus, in the posterior limb of internal capsula and in the caudate nucleus of the right hemisphere was found at a Diffusion Weighted Imaging. No abnormality of coagulation parameters was revealed. Surprisingly, there is no mention of investi...

O12: The Heart and the Brain: Stroke Induced Heart Damage

Cardiac diseases are common post-stroke and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality. One possible mechanism of acute cardiac injury is the neurogenic myocardial damage, where the cerebral injury is disturbing the normal sympathetic and parasympathetic neuronal outflow to the heart leading to cardiac damage including myocardial infarctions. The exact mechanism is not completely und...

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine.

The foramen ovale is an opening between the top 2 chambers (atria) of the heart that is present during the development of a fetus within the womb but typically closes after birth. During fetal growth, the foramen ovale serves to bypass the developing lungs, shunting oxygen – rich blood derived from the mother’s circulation directly from the right side of the heart to the left, where it is pumpe...