A 40 year-old athletic woman presented with worsening dyspnea on exertion over the preceding several months. Chest radiograph showed borderline cardiomegaly and subsequent echocardiography demonstrated a 5.0-cm left atrial mass as well as left-to-right interatrial shunting through a patent foramen ovale. Cardiac magnetic resonance imaging was performed, which demonstrated signal characteristics...

A 75-yr-old female presented with platypnoea and orthodeoxia, shortly after laying down an old and pinching corset. The injection of activated Haemaccel in the right cubital vene during transoesophageal echocardiography, in the upright position, revealed a direct blood flow from the superior caval vein at a patent foremen ovale, consequently opening it and causing a large right-to-left shunt wh...

Description and prevalence In the fetus venous blood enters the right atrium and is directed into either the right ventricle (predominantly from the superior vena cava) or the left atrium (predominantly from the inferior vena cava, being guided by the eustachian valve across the foramen ovale). At birth the decrease in pulmonary vascular resistance and increase in systemic vascular resistance c...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE We aimed to investigate the incidence of May-Thurner syndrome in patients with cryptogenic stroke with patent foramen ovale. METHODS This was a retrospective study. All consecutive patients with cryptogenic stroke having undergone patent foramen ovale closure from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2007, at our institute were included in this study. Pelvic magnetic resona...

Recent epidemiological data suggest that up to 18% of women and 6% of men worldwide have suffered a migraine headache.1,2 Despite its common occurrence, our understanding of both migraine pathophysiology and the optimal means by which to control or abate symptoms remains severely limited.1 For many years, the care of patients with migraines was left in the capable hands of general practitioners...

BACKGROUND Beating-heart image-guided intracardiac interventions have been evolving rapidly. To extend the domain of catheter-based and transcardiac interventions into reconstructive surgery, a new robotic tool delivery platform and a tissue approximation device have been developed. Initial results using these tools to perform patent foramen ovale closure are described. METHODS AND RESULTS A ...

A 37 year old woman was admitted to the hospital with acute severe asthma, shortly followed by respiratory failure and circulatory arrest. Despite intensive cardio-pulmonary resuscitation, during which extreme arterial hypoxaemia persisted, the patient died. Postmortem examination revealed a patent foramen ovale, with a diameter of 1 cm. A severe right-to-left shunt, initiated by acute pulmonar...

Migraine is a heterogeneous primary headache disorder.1 Migraine prevalence in the general population of the United States is 28 million people (13%) and results in significant costs to the healthcare system.2 Aura consists of 1 or more focal neurological symptoms, such as visual, sensory, or speech disturbances,1 and is present in 30% of migraineurs.3 Cortical spreading depression (CSD), a neu...

A 52-year-old male smoker suffered a left-sided stroke. Bubble contrast echocardiography demonstrated an aneurysmal atrial septum and patent foramen ovale (PFO). The patient was referred for percutaneous closure of his PFO to reduce his risk of further stroke. Despite dual antiplatelet therapy and pre-procedural heparin, he developed a spontaneous thrombus during balloon sizing of the defect id...

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) can be found in approximately 25% of adult population. Transcatheter closure of PFO is a potential option in selected patients with PFO. We report a case of a female patient that underwent mapping and catheter ablation of atrial tachycardia and PFO closure in the same procedure.