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 investigation of congenital heart disease, which is recognised as a major cause of stroke in children [2].