A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a hole in the heart that doesn’t close as expected after birth. Before a baby is born, they have a hole between the left and right sides of their heart. This hole, ...

A call has been made for a new classification of ischemic stroke for patients who have a patent foramen ovale (PFO) that is thought to have been the likely cause of the stroke. The new classification ...

The persistently patent foramen ovale has been implicated in a variety of neurologic and embolic events, including transient ischemic attacks and stroke, decompression illness in divers, ...

A practice advisory update from the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) warns against routinely offering percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in patients with cryptogenic ischemic stroke ...

Please provide your email address to receive an email when new articles are posted on . High-risk patent foramen ovale was independently linked to a higher risk for decompression illness in scuba ...

Among patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO) and history of stroke, older age is associated with a substantially higher risk of recurrent stroke, according to new epidemiologic research. “This means ...

In scuba divers with large patent foramen ovale (PFO), transcatheter closure seems to prevent decompression sickness (DCS), a new study suggests. “According to our data, PFO closure is recommended in ...

A foramen ovale is a hole in the heart. The small hole naturally exists in babies who are still in the womb for fetal circulation. It should close soon after birth. If it doesn’t close, the condition ...

A patent foramen ovale is an opening that some adults have between the top two chambers of their hearts. Everyone has this opening early in life, but it often seals during infancy. In some people, ...

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is the most common congenital heart abnormality of fetal origin and is present in approximately ∼25% of the worldwide adult population. PFO is the consequence of failed ...