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By Mayo Clinic staffIn most cases, a patent foramen ovale is discovered during imaging tests to examine other heart conditions or to look for causes of stroke. Your doctor may also suspect a heart defect, such as a patent foramen ovale, if he or she hears an unusual sound (heart murmur) when listening to your heart.
After a patent foramen ovale has been diagnosed, you'll likely have numerous questions for your doctor. Some questions you may want to ask include:
- What caused this to happen to me or to my child?
- How dangerous is this condition?
- What treatments are available, and which do you recommend?
- What are the risks of a procedure to close the patent foramen ovale?
- Is surgery the only option, or are there any alternatives approaches that might work, such as medication?
- I have other health conditions. How can I best manage these conditions together?
- Do I or my child need to restrict activity in any way?
- Could I have passed this condition to my child?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What websites do you recommend visiting?
- Atrial septal defect (ASD). American Heart Association. http://www.americanheart.org/presenter.jhtml?identifier=11065. Accessed April 22, 2010.
- Bashore TM, et al. Heart disease. In: McPhee SJ, et al. Current Medical Diagnosis and Treatment 2010. 49th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill; 2010. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=3671. Accessed April 22, 2010.
- Slottow TL, et al. Overview of the 2007 Food and Drug Administration Circulatory System Devices Panel meeting on patent foramen ovale closure devices. Circulation 2007;116:677.
- O'Gara PT, et al. Percutaneous device closure of patent foramen ovale for secondary stroke prevention: A call for completion of randomized clinical trials — A science advisory from the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association and the American College of Cardiology Foundation. Circulation. 2009;119:2743.
- Johansson MC, et al. The significance of patent foramen ovale: A current review of associated conditions and treatment. International Journal of Cardiology. 2009;134:17.
- Specific cardiac defects. In: Libby P, et al. Braunwald's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Cardiovascular Medicine. 8th ed. Philadelphia, Pa.: Saunders Elsevier; 2007. http://www.mdconsult.com/book/player/book.do?method=display&type=bookPage&decorator=header&eid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9--cesec197&displayedEid=4-u1.0-B978-1-4160-4106-1..50064-9--cesec222&uniq=197042004&isbn=978-1-4160-4106-1&sid=987452515. Accessed April 22, 2010.
- Sommer RJ. Patent foramen ovale: Where are we in 2009? American Journal of Therapeutics. 2009;16:562.
- Rothrock JF. Patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraine. Headache. 2008;48:1153.
- Meier B. Catheter-based closure of the patent foramen ovale. Circulation. 2009;120:1837.
- Grogan M (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 3, 2010
- Rosenow E (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn. May 3, 2010.
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