Is stroke a paradoxical embolism in patients with patent foramen ovale?

OBJECTIVE: Purpose was to assess the stroke mechanism in patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO).

METHODS: We reviewed the medical records of 111 stroke patients with PFO and sinus rhythm (PFO-S group), 25 with PFO and atrial fibrillation (AF) (PFO-AF group) and 67 with AF but not PFO (AF group), who had received contrast transesophageal echocardiography. The clinical and neuroradiological findings were then compared among the three groups. Deep vein thrombosis was investigated in 93 patients with PFO. We determined the number of patients with definite paradoxical embolism who met three criteria: deep vein thrombosis, neuroradiological features indicating embolic stroke, and the absence of other sources of emboli. We also evaluated those with probable paradoxical embolism who met two of the three criteria.

RESULTS: The PFO-S group more frequently exhibited hypercholesterolemia (p<0.0001) and lesions limited to the posterior circulation (p<0.0004), and less frequently exhibited large or cortical lesions in the anterior circulation (p=0.0008, p<0.0001, respectively), than the PFO-AF and AF groups. In the PFO-S and PFO-AF groups, other sources of emboli such as a cardiac source of emboli, cerebral artery stenosis > or =50%, or complicated atheroma in the aortic arch were identified in 72 cases (52.9%). In the 93 patients with examination for deep vein thrombosis, the definite and probable criteria of paradoxical embolism were fulfilled only in three (3.2%) and 33 cases (35.5%), respectively.

CONCLUSION: In stroke patients with PFO, not only paradoxical brain embolism through the PFO but also other causes of stroke may contribute to the development of stroke.