Abstract
BackgroundPatent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is superior to medical therapy alone to prevent stroke recurrence in selected patients. Small cortical infarcts and large right to left shunts seem to identify patients who will benefit most from closure. We aimed to study the correlation between the size of the PFO and the volume of cerebral ischemic lesions in young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke.MethodsPFO dimensions and acute ischemic lesion volume of 20 patients, aged<55 years, were analyzed with transesophageal echocardiography and brain magnetic resonance imaging, respectively. The association between the volume of ischemic lesions with the length of PFO, maximum separation between septum primum and septum secundum, and the combination of the twos was explored.ResultsA direct statistically significant correlation was found between cerebral lesion volume and maximum separation of septum primum and septum secundum (p=0.047). Length of PFO showed a non-significant trend towards an inverse correlation with lesion volume (p=0.603). Multiple linear regression analysis showed that cerebral lesion volume was dependent directly on maximum separation and inversely on length of PFO (regression coeff. −0,837; p= 0.057; 2,536, p=0.006, respectively).ConclusionsThese data suggest that even small PFO might be pathogenetic in case of small cerebral infarcts and that large cerebral infarcts might be PFO related if the shunt is large. If confirmed, the combination of detailed characteristics of PFO with the volume of cerebral infarct could be integrated in a new score to select patients who would take real advantage from a percutaneous closure.
Highlights
Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is superior to medical therapy alone to prevent stroke recurrence in selected patients
Consensus statements [3] indicate that the morphology of PFO and the characteristics of the cerebral ischemic lesions are key factors to reach this goal, large shunts associated with atrial septal aneurism and small cortical cerebral infarcts [4]
In a context of scarce and conflicting evidence [5, 6], we aim to investigate a possible relationship between PFO size and acute cerebral ischemic lesion volume in young patients with cryptogenic stroke
Summary
Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure is superior to medical therapy alone to prevent stroke recurrence in selected patients. We aimed to study the correlation between the size of the PFO and the volume of cerebral ischemic lesions in young patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is associated with cerebral ischemic stroke in case-control studies [1] and recent randomized trials show that its closure is more effective than medical therapy alone to reduce stroke recurrence in selected patients [2]. Consensus statements [3] indicate that the morphology of PFO and the characteristics of the cerebral ischemic lesions are key factors to reach this goal, large shunts associated with atrial septal aneurism and small cortical cerebral infarcts [4]. In a context of scarce and conflicting evidence [5, 6], we aim to investigate a possible relationship between PFO size and acute cerebral ischemic lesion volume in young patients with cryptogenic stroke
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