A patent foramen ovale is a common intracardiac finding that is located between the left and right atrium. It can cause right-to-left shunting and has a high prevalence in patients who suffer a cryptogenic stroke. Earlier trials did not show superiority of percutaneous patent foramen ovale closure with standard medical therapy over standard medical therapy alone in the treatment of cryptogenic ...

Though uncommon, right-to-left shunt through a patent foramen ovale with normal right-side pressure and with a normal interatrial pressure gradient has been reported. The speculated pathophysiology is attributed to directional blood flow streaming from the vena cava to the left atrium. Hypoxemia secondary to right-to-left shunt with normal pulmonary artery pressure has been extensively document...

Paradoxical embolism is defined as a systemic arterial embolism requiring the passage of a venous thrombus into the arterial circulatory system through a right-to-left shunt. It is a relatively rare phenomenon, representing about 2% of all cases of arterial embolism. We report a case of a 79-years-old woman admitted to hospital because of dyspnea and lower left limb pain. CT scan revealed multi...

OBJECTIVES Exposure to intravascular microbubbles after diving and during medical procedures alters endothelial function. The aim of this study was to investigate whether a patent foramen ovale altered forearm endothelial function by facilitating microbubbles transfer. DESIGN Patients attended on two separate visits, at least seven days apart receiving agitated saline or no active interventio...

Despite 3 recent randomized clinical trials, the management of patients with cryptogenic stroke and patent foramen ovale remains unsettled. The primary results of Evaluation of the STARFlex Septal Closure System in Patients with a Stroke and/or Transient Ischemic Attack due to Presumed Paradoxical Embolism Through a Patent Foramen Ovale (CLOSURE), Percutaneous Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale in...

background: percutaneous transcatheter closure has been proposed as an alternative to surgical closure or long-term anticoagulation in patients with presumed paradoxical embolism and patent foramen ovale (pfo). methods: there were two symptomatic patients (29 and 47 years old) who underwent percutaneous transcatheter closure of pfo after at least two events of cerebral ischemia; one embolic eve...

Platypnea-orthodeoxia is a rare syndrome characterized by the occurrence of dyspnea and hypoxemia on adoption of an upright posture (i.e., orthodeoxia) and by the absence of symptoms and hypoxemia in decubitus. This syndrome is frequently related to patent foramen ovale and right-to-left shunting. We describe two patients in whom patent foramen ovale with right-to-left shunting was observed on ...

Patent foramen ovale is frequently associated with embolic cerebrovascular accidents. The diagnosis of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is easier since the advent of transesophageal echocardiography but is invasive and does not allow to detect extracardiac RLS. Contrast transcranial Doppler ultrasound enables the detection of the passage of a contrast material injected into a peripheral vein to the c...

Transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale is routinely performed using the transfemoral approach, which is safe and technically easy. Our case represents the rare situation where the procedure needs to be performed using the right internal jugular venous approach. According to our best knowledge this is the first report of a patent foramen ovale closure procedure with access through the int...

Approximately 40% of ischemic strokes have no clearly definable etiology and are termed cryptogenic strokes. Patent foramen ovale, a small communication between the left and right atria, is considered to be a risk factor for cerebral embolism. In this study, we report the case of a 29-year-old woman with diagnosis of ischemic stroke due to patent foramen ovale who has undergone percutaneous end...