European position paper on the management of patients with patent foramen ovale. Part II - Decompression sickness, migraine, arterial deoxygenation syndromes and select high-risk clinical conditions.

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of medical conditions but to date only one official position paper related to left circulation thromboembolism has been published. This interdisciplinary paper, prepared with the involvement of eight European scientific societies, reviews the available evidence and proposes a rationale for decision making for other PFO-related clinical conditions. In order to guarantee a strict evidence-based process, we used a modified grading of recommendations, assessment, development, and evaluation (GRADE) methodology. A critical qualitative and quantitative evaluation of diagnostic and therapeutic procedures was performed, including assessment of the risk/benefit ratio. The level of evidence and the strength of the position statements were weighed and graded according to predefined scales. Despite being based on limited and observational or low-certainty randomised data, a number of position statements were made to frame PFO management in different clinical settings, along with suggestions for new research avenues. This interdisciplinary position paper, recognising the low or very low certainty of existing evidence, provides the first approach to several PFO-related clinical scenarios beyond left circulation thromboembolism and strongly stresses the need for fresh high-quality evidence on these topics.

Importance of direct right-to-left shunt as high-risk patent foramen ovale associated with cryptogenic stroke.

BACKGROUND: Because transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) has become effective for preventing cryptogenic stroke (CS), it is necessary to determine high-risk PFO associated with CS. This study aimed to clarify the importance of direct right-to-left (RL) shunt through the PFO for identifying high-risk PFO. METHODS: We analyzed 137 patients with and without CS who were confirmed to have PFO. The timing of RL shunt through the PFO was evaluated by cardiac cycles after right atrium (RA) opacification on saline contrast transesophageal echocardiography. Direct RL shunt was defined as microbubbles crossing the PFO before and at the same time of RA opacification. RESULTS: Cardiac cycles of microbubbles crossing the PFO were shorter in patients with CS than in those without CS (2.0 ± 2.2 vs .5 ± 1.1, p < 0.01). Direct RL shunt was more frequently observed in patients with CS than in those without CS (77% vs 29%, p < 0.01), with a sensitivity of 79% and a specificity of 71% for the association with CS. Multivariate analysis revealed that direct RL shunt was related to atrial septal aneurysm and low-angle PFO. Regarding functional features of PFO, the detection rate of CS was 50% for large RL shunt alone, and was increased to 83% when direct RL shunt was added. CONCLUSION: Direct RL shunt was associated with CS and had the incremental value in detecting PFO associated with CS for large RL shunt. The timing of RL shunt can be valuable for identifying high-risk PFO.

Pregnancy and delivery in patients with Fontan circulation: a report of two cases.

Fontan operation is performed to provide palliation for patients with many forms of highly complex congenital heart disease that cannot support a biventricular circulation. Increasing numbers of women who have undergone these connections in childhood are now reaching their childbearing years, and some are becoming pregnant. The low flow and fixed cardiac output of a Fontan circulation poses a number of problems during pregnancy. Here, we report two cases of pregnancy and delivery with Fontan circulation. Case 1, who underwent Fontan procedure for congenital pulmonary atresia with intact vertical septum at age 7, delivered a male infant weighing 1073 g by cesarean section at 28(6/7) weeks due to massive genital bleeding. Case 2 underwent Fontan procedure for double inlet left ventricle and delivered by vacuum extraction a male infant weighing 2142 g, while monitoring central venous pressure at 37(5/7) weeks. The former had ascites and dose of diuretic had to be added at early pregnancy, and the latter had no adverse cardiac and obstetric events. These cases suggest that patients after adequate Fontan palliation could complete pregnancy without long-term cardiac sequelae, but might be complicated with cardiac or obstetrical events. Intensive care should be required with specialists, including a neonatologist, anesthesiologist and cardiologist. We have added a literature review of pregnancy with Fontan circulation, referring to previous reports.

The impact of pulmonary artery banding and cardiac resynchronization therapy for the adult patient with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries.

It has been controversial how to manage severe dysfunction of the systemic right ventricle and severe tricuspid regurgitation for adult patients with congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries. We reported a 43-year-old man with these disorders, who received pulmonary artery banding and cardiac resynchronization therapy without cardiopulmonary bypass. The degree of the tricuspid regurgitation was improved to mild-moderate and systemic right ventricular ejection fraction was improved from 28 to 45% after surgery. Cardiopulmonary exercise testing showed that the predictive value of anaerobic threshold and peak oxygen uptake improved from 65 to 99% and 59 to 92%, respectively. In conclusion, pulmonary artery banding and cardiac resynchronization therapy can be the first choice of surgery for severe tricuspid regurgitation with severely impaired systemic right ventricular function. After improving systemic right ventricular dysfunction tricuspid surgery could be the next choice as a surgical intervention in the future.

Closure of the patent foramen ovale in patients with embolic stroke of undetermined source: A clinical expert opinion and consensus statement for the Asian-Pacific region.

Recently published long-term data from randomized controlled trials have provided evidence for the prevention of recurrent embolic stroke of undetermined source by percutaneous closure of the patent foramen ovale. However, most data were obtained from Caucasian populations and evidence on patent foramen ovale closure in Asian-Pacific patients is limited. The relative paucity in clinical data from this population, as well as the fact that Asian-Pacific patients may have higher bleeding risks than Caucasians, complicates clinical decision-making. This document, resulting from a consensus meeting of Asian-Pacific clinical experts, states the consensus among these experts about how to treat Asian-Pacific patients who had an embolic stroke of undetermined source and have a patent foramen ovale, based on currently available evidence and expert opinions. In addition, uncertainties and the need for clinical data regarding patent foramen ovale closure for prevention of recurrent embolic stroke of undetermined source in general, and specifically for Asian-Pacific patients, are identified.

Transcatheter coil embolization of a high-flow coronary artery fistula using 0.052-inch gianturco coils: a case report.

A giant, high-flow coronary fistula is usually difficult to treat by transcatheter coil embolization, but the 0.052-inch Gianturco coil, which is larger and has a stronger shape memory than conventional coils, is now available. Using this device and additional conventional coils, a high-flow coronary artery fistula in a healthy 31-year-old man was successfully embolized. The new Gianturco coil widens the indication for the transcatheter embolization of coronary artery fistulas.