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...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The pathogenic link between patent foramen ovale (PFO) and stroke remains unknown in most cases. We investigated the association between inherited thrombophilic disorders and PFO-related strokes in a series of young adults in the setting of a case-control study. METHODS We investigated 125 consecutive subjects (age, 34.7+/-7.3 years) with ischemic stroke and 149 age- an...

A patent foramen ovale (PFO), present in ∼40% of the general population, is a potential source of right-to-left shunt that can impair pulmonary gas exchange efficiency [i.e., increase the alveolar-to-arterial Po2 difference (A-aDO2)]. Prior studies investigating human acclimatization to high-altitude with A-aDO2 as a key parameter have not investigated differences between subjects with (PFO+) o...

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 prospecti...

Stroke is a devastating event for patients and their families. Paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a recognized cause of stroke. Percutaneous PFO closure is a simple and safe procedure. The debate on PFO closure is far from settled. This is, in part, due to the fact that the three published randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on PFO closure vs. medical therapy were nega...

To analyze the predictive value of postoperative percent fluid overload (PFO) of renal replacement therapy (RRT) for acute kidney injury (AKI) patients after cardiac surgery.Data from 280 cardiac surgery patients between 2005 January and 2012 April were collected for retrospective analyses. A receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was used to compare the predictive values of cumulative P...