Although patent foramen ovale is a relatively common disease, the presence of paradoxical embolism is a rare clinical condition, representing less than 2% of arterial ischemias. We report the case of a 55-year-old male diagnosed with massive pulmonary embolism and paradoxical embolism in the right arm, secondary to patent foramen ovale. We also highlight some uncertainties in the diagnosis and ...

Two patients with long tunnel-type patent foramen ovale presented for elective transcatheter closure following transient ischaemic attack and stroke. Right to left shunting was confirmed on transthoracic and transoesophageal echocardiography. A new technique that used a transseptal procedure was devised to enable closure of the tunnel-type patent foramen ovale using the CardioSEAL transseptal o...

Recent reports have documented an association between patent foramen ovale and obstructive sleep apnea. We report on a 51-year-old man with obstructive sleep apnea and recent stroke who was enrolled in a clinic trial evaluating the efficacy of closure of patent foramen ovale following ischemic stroke. He was randomly assigned to device closure. There was subjective dramatic improvement in sleep...

We present the case of a 28-year-old woman admitted to our department with respiratory distress, profound hypotension, and tenderness in the left upper abdominal quadrant and left calf. Ultrasound examination revealed left lower extremity thrombus as well as a floating thrombus in the right atrium attached to a patent foramen ovale. Spiral computed tomography revealed bilateral pulmonary artery...

Patients undergoing total joint arthroplasty frequently develop post-operative complication, such as deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism. However, it is not common coexisting deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary thromboembolisms, right atrial thrombus and acute cerebral infarction raised by thrombus through patent foramen ovale. We reported the patient who had multiple thrombi which w...

We have read the comments of Martı́nez-Quintana et al ncerning the article entitled ‘‘Giant Chiari Network, Foramen ale, and Paradoxical Embolism’’ with interest. As Martı́nez-Quintana et al argue, paradoxical embolism should ainly be taken into account in young patients in whom there is no her cause to explain the occurrence of the stroke. Although the tient in the reported case exhibited other ...

OBJECTIVE To report a specific pathophysiology of hemidiaphragmatic paralysis that may result in severe hypoxemia. DESIGN Case series. SETTING Intensive care unit in a cardiology hospital. PATIENTS The series included three patients with refractory hypoxemia in whom a diagnosis of right-to-left-shunt through a patent foramen ovale was made by contrast echocardiography. The three patients ...

We describe the case of a woman who presented to the intensive care unit with acute respiratory failure that required mechanical ventilation. She had severe pulmonary hypertension secondary to interstitial lung disease, and her history included sarcoidosis and tuberculosis. She was dependent on inhaled nitric oxide (INO) to maintain safe arterial oxygen saturation and could not be weaned from ...

Air embolism is a rare complication of percutaneous nephrolithotomy. Patent foramen ovale, which is necessary in fetal circulation, is a potential route for emboli arising from the venous system to enter the systemic arterial circulation, resulting in paradoxical air embolism syndrome. A case of paradoxical air embolism during percutaneous nephrolithotomy is presented. To our knowledge, this is...