Differences in clinical and biological factors between patients with PFO-related stroke and patients with PFO and no cerebral vascular events.
Front Neurol
; 14: 1104674, 2023.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-36998773
ABSTRACT
Background:
While stroke is one of the most dissected topics in neurology, the primary prevention of PFO-related stroke in young patients is still an unaddressed subject. We present a study concerning clinical, demographic, and laboratory factors associated with stroke and transient ischemic attack in patients with patent foramen ovale (PFO), as well as comparing PFO-patients with and without cerebrovascular ischemic events (CVEs). Patients andmethods:
Consecutive patients with PFO-associated CVEs were included in the study; control group was selected from patients with a PFO and no history of stroke. All participants underwent peripheral routine blood analyses, as well as, on treating physician's recommendations, screening for thrombophilia.Results:
Ninety-five patients with CVEs and 41 controls were included. Females had a significantly lower risk of CVEs than males (p = 0.04). PFO size was similar between patients and controls. Patients with CVEs had more often hypertension (n = 33, 34.7%), p = 0.007. No significant differences were found between the two groups with regard to routine laboratory tests and thrombophilia status. Hypertension and gender were identified in a binomial logistic regression model as independent predictors for CVEs, but with an area under the ROC curve of 0.531, suggesting a very poor level of discrimination between the two groups. Discussion andconclusions:
There is little difference between patients with PFO with and without CVEs in terms of PFO size and routine laboratory analyses. While still a controversial topic in the specialty literature, classic first-level thrombophilic mutations are not a risk factor for stroke in patients with PFO. Hypertension and male gender were identified as factors associated with a higher risk of stroke in the setting of PFO.
Full text:
1
Database:
MEDLINE
Type of study:
Guideline
/
Prognostic_studies
/
Risk_factors_studies
Language:
En
Journal:
Front Neurol
Year:
2023
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Romania