Background and Purpose Paradoxical embolism through a patent foramen ovale is a recognized cause of stroke, but clinical predictors, recurrence rate, and prevention of brain infarcts in patients with patent foramen ovale have not been determined. We reviewed transesophageal echocardiographic records to ascertain echocardiographic predictors and optimal prophylaxis for patent foramen ovale-relat...

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an atrial septal deformity present in around 25% of the general population. PFO is associated with major causes of morbidity, including stroke and migraine. PFO appears to be heritable but genes involved in the closure of foramen ovale have not been identified. The aim of this study is to determine molecular pathways and genes that are responsible to the postnatal ...

Background and Purpose: A patent foramen ovale has been reported to be significantly more frequent in young stroke patients than in matched control subjects, and paradoxical embolism has been suggested as the main mechanism of stroke in this situation. The present study was designed to test this hypothesis. Methods: Sixty-eight consecutive patients under 55 years of age presenting with an ische...

Ebstein anomaly is characterized by deformities of the anterior leaflet of the tricuspid valve and atrialization of the right ventricle. Patients with severe tricuspid regurgitation are recommended to have tricuspid valve surgery with concomitant atrial septal defect closure. A 73-year-old female with Ebstein anomaly presented with severe hypoxemia. Transthoracic echocardiography revealed sever...

INTRODUCTION Platypnea-orthodeoxia is a relatively uncommon but striking clinical syndrome characterized by dyspnea and deoxygenation accompanying a change to sitting or standing from a recumbent position. Hypoxemia early after lung transplant can have multiple etiologies. We report a rare case of persistent hypoxemia and platypnea-orthodeoxia after left single-lung transplantation, as a result...

BACKGROUND In divers, the significance of a patent foramen ovale and its potential relation to paradoxical gas emboli remain uncertain. OBJECTIVE To assess the prevalence of symptoms of decompression illness and ischemic brain lesions in divers with regard to the presence of a patent foramen ovale. DESIGN Retrospective cohort study. SETTING University hospital and three diving clubs in Sw...

Background: The prevalence of patent foramen ovale is approximately 50% in patients who have suffered a cryptogenic stroke. The recurrence of ischemic stroke after percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure is approximately 1% per year. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of recurrent ischemic stroke in our population undergoing percutaneous patent foramen ovale closu...

We describe a patient admitted to the intensive care unit with aphasia, which was due to an embolic ischaemic cerebral stroke associated with a previously unknown patent foramen ovale. Eventually, this finding during echocardiography led us to the diagnosis of pancreatic cancer. The thrombotic complications of pancreatic cancer, in combination with a large, patent foramen ovale, support the mec...

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