Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is implicated in platypnea-orthodeoxia, stroke and decompression sickness (DCS) in divers and astronauts. However, PFO size in relation to clinical illness is largely unknown since few studies evaluate PFO, either functionally or anatomically. The autopsy incidence of PFO is approximately 27% and 6% for a large defect (0.6 cm to 1.0 cm). A PFO is often associated with...

BACKGROUND A patent foramen ovale (PFO) may permit arterial embolization of thrombi that accumulate on the leads of cardiac implantable electronic devices in the right-sided cardiac chambers. We sought to determine whether a PFO increases the risk of stroke/transient ischemic attack (TIA) in patients with endocardial leads. METHODS AND RESULTS We retrospectively evaluated all patients who had...

Background Observational studies favor percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) over medical treatment to reduce recurrent stroke while randomized trials fail to demonstrate significant superiority of percutaneous PFO closure. Few long-term studies are available post PFO closure. This study reports long-term clinical outcomes after percutaneous PFO closure. Methods Between 1997 and ...

background: one of the important etiologies for cryptogenic stroke is paradoxical embolization secondary to patent foramen ovale (pfo). foramen ovale can secondarily reopen due to pulmonary arterial hypertension (pah) which is common among the older age. pah is known as a frequent and life threatening complication of copd. the aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of pfo between cop...

BACKGROUND Although controversial, paradoxical embolism via patent foramen ovale (PFO) may account for some of the migraine attacks in a subset of migraine with aura (MA) patients. Induction of MA attacks with air bubble injection during transcranial Doppler ultrasound in MA patients with PFO supports this view. It is likely that cerebral embolism in patients with right-to-left shunt induces bi...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a risk factor for paradoxical embolism, and severe shunting and wide opening of PFO are risk factors for severe and recurrent cerebrovascular events. Neither contrast echocardiography nor 2-dimensional (2D) measurement of PFO size have been validated or compared with invasive balloon sizing. METHODS We performed transesophageal echocardiogr...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Left atrial dysfunction has been reported in patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO). Here we investigated the role of left atrial dysfunction in the development of embolic stroke in patients with PFO. METHODS We identified consecutive patients with embolic stroke of undetermined sources except for PFO (PFO+ESUS). Healthy subjects with PFO served as controls (PFO+contr...

Background and Purpose—Patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been identified as a potential risk factor for stroke, but the mechanisms of PFO-associated stroke remain unsettled. The aim of our study was to evaluate possible differences in stroke risk factors and stroke patterns between patients with and without PFO that may give clues to the mechanism of PFO-associated stroke. Methods—This prospective...

Background and Purpose—Patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been identified as a potential risk factor for stroke, but the mechanisms of PFO-associated stroke remain unsettled. The aim of our study was to evaluate possible differences in stroke risk factors and stroke patterns between patients with and without PFO that may give clues to the mechanism of PFO-associated stroke. Methods—This prospective...

Background and Purpose—Patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been identified as a potential risk factor for stroke, but the mechanisms of PFO-associated stroke remain unsettled. The aim of our study was to evaluate possible differences in stroke risk factors and stroke patterns between patients with and without PFO that may give clues to the mechanism of PFO-associated stroke. Methods—This prospective...