title: Prevention of recurrent cryptogenic stroke with percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale; one year follow-up study with magnetic resonance imaging and Holter monitoring.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  In this study, we aimed to evaluate the effect of percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) on the recurrence of stroke and new cardiac arrhythmia using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and Holter monitoring.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients with PFO had >1 previous stroke or transient ischemic attack documented with MRI in the first event. PFO with right to left shunt was detected by transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) and transcranial Doppler ultrasound. MRI examinations were performed on patients before and one year after PFO closure was applied. A twenty-four hour Holter monitoring was performed in all patients within 1 month before and 6 months after the procedure.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Percutaneous PFO closure was performed on 47 patients (25 female, mean age: 38.7 years) who had cerebral ischemic events detected by MRI. A year after the procedure, TEE showed that there was no residual interatrial right-to-left shunting. After a 14 month follow-up, no new cerebrovascular event and no new lesion on MRI were recorded. The incidence of arrhythmia did not increase significantly after the procedure on Holter monitoring (p=0.917).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  One-year clinical and MRI follow-up study of patients with cerebral ischemic events and percutaneous closure of PFO showed no recurrent event and no significant complication associated with the procedure. In addition, Holter monitorization demonstrated that the procedure did not increase the incidence of arrhythmias compared with pre-procedural monitoring.
authors: Department of Cardiology, Samsun Training and Research Hospital, Samsun, Turkey.
authors: Ahmet Hakan
authors: AH
authors: Ateş
authors: Department of Cardiology, Dışkapı Yıldırım Beyazıt Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Hamza
authors: H
authors: Sunman
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Kudret
authors: K
authors: Aytemir
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Hikmet
authors: H
authors: Yorgun
authors: Department of Cardiology, Türkiye Yüksek İhtisas Hospital, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Uğur
authors: U
authors: Canpolat
authors: Department of Neurology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Mehmet Akif
authors: MA
authors: Topcuoğlu
authors: Department of Radiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Kader
authors: K
authors: Karlı Oğuz
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Levent
authors: L
authors: Şahiner
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Ergün Barış
authors: EB
authors: Kaya
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Lale
authors: L
authors: Tokgözoğlu
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Giray
authors: G
authors: Kabakçı
authors: Department of Cardiology, Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey.
authors: Ali
authors: A
authors: Oto
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015716:Electrocardiography, Ambulatory / Q000379:methods*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D054092:Foramen Ovale, Patent / Q000601:surgery*; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging / Q000379:methods*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020521:Stroke / Q000517:prevention & control*