Residual Shunt After Patent Foramen Ovale Device Closure in Patients With Cryptogenic Stroke: Serial Bubble Contrast Transesophageal Echocardiography Data

The current investigation analyzed the date from the Gachon University Gil Medical Center PFO registry. Between March 2014 to February 2017, all consecutive 47 patients with ischemic stroke and PFO documented by bubble contrast with no other identifiable cause of the ischemic event, such as, carotid or intracranial artery stenosis, atrial fibrillation, and thrombus, or atheromatous plaque at the aortic arch (i.e. CS), were analyzed. PFO closure was determined according to the heart-brain team's discretion (the team consisted of an interventional cardiologist, an echocardiographer cardiologist, a neurologist, and a radiologist) based on clinical data, echocardiographic findings, and patients' preference. The Gore® Septal Occluder (WL Gore & Associates, Inc., Newark, DE, USA) (n=19) and the Amplatzer® PFO occluder (St. Jude Medical, Inc. St.Paul, MN, USA) (n=19) and were used. The Occlutec® PFO occluder was used in one patient who were excluded from the analysis. The Institutional Review Board of Gachon University Gil Medical Center approved this study and all patients provided written informed consent prior to enrollment.