UNLABELLED Right-to-left shunt (RLS) can be identified by contrast-enhanced transcranial Doppler (cTCD) in patent foramen ovale (PFO) patients. AIM To evaluate cTCD for PFO screening comparing it to cTEE. METHOD 45 previous cTCD performed for PFO diagnosis and correlated its findings with cTEE. Patients were submitted to a cTCD standardized technique and were divided in two groups according...

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of medical treatment with percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO). BACKGROUND Patients with cryptogenic stroke and PFO are at risk for recurrent cerebrovascular events. METHODS We compared the risk of recurrence in 308 patients with cryptogenic stroke and PFO, who were treated either medically (158 patients) or unde...

While there is an increased prevalence of stroke at altitude in individuals who are considered to be low risk for thrombotic events, it is uncertain how venous thrombi reach the brain. The patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a recruitable intracardiac shunt between the right and left atrium. We aimed to determine whether body position and oxygen tension affect blood flow through the PFO in healthy ad...

BACKGROUND Percutaneous transcatheter closure (PTC) of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is implicated in cryptogenic stroke, transitional ischemic attack (TIA) and treatment of a migraine. AIM Our goal was to present our experience in the interventional treatment of PFO, as well as to evaluate the short and mid-term results in patients with closed PFO. MATERIAL AND METHODS Transcatheter closure o...

Background: Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a common finding in adults. A PFO is associated with right to left shunting but its importance in the aetiology of hypoxia in early COPD remains uncertain, although it has not proved possible to demonstrate a role for PFOs in the aetiology of hypoxia in patients with Global Initiative for chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) stage III/IV disease. We ...

Perfluorooctanoate (PFO) and perfluorooctanesulfonate (PFOS) surfactant anions, once released, may rapidly reach remote regions. This phenomenon is puzzling because the water-bound anions of strong F-alkyl acids should be largely transported by slow oceanic currents. Herein, we investigate whether these hydrophobic F-alkyl oxoanions would behave anomalously under environmental conditions, as su...

Conflicting results are available on the association of prothrombotic genetic abnormalities with patent foramen ovale (PFO)-related cerebral ischaemia. We comprehensively sought and identified studies of the association of both the factor V Leiden (FV(G1691A) mutation) and the prothrombin mutation (PT(G20210A) mutation) with PFO-related cerebral ischaemia and did meta-analyses to assess the evi...

BACKGROUND Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) is caused by defects in cholesterol efflux from lysosomes due to mutations of genes coding for NPC1 and NPC2 proteins. As a result, massive accumulation of unesterified cholesterol in late endosomes/lysosomes is observed. At the level of the organism these cholesterol metabolism disorders are manifested by progressive neurodegeneration and hepatosple...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE Recurrent cerebrovascular events are frequent in medically treated patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO), but it still remains unclear whether PFO is a causal or an incidental finding. Further uncertainty exists on whether the size of functional shunting could represent a potential risk factor. The aim of the present study was to evaluate if the presence of PFO is asso...