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Symptoms
By Mayo Clinic staffMost people with patent foramen ovale don't know they have it, because it's usually a hidden condition that doesn't create signs or symptoms.
Symptoms in infants
In rare circumstances, an infant with patent foramen ovale might have bluish skin (cyanosis) when crying or straining, such as when passing stool. When an infant with patent foramen ovale has cyanosis, he or she usually has other heart defects.
In children with complex congenital heart defects, the patent foramen ovale may be necessary for survival, because it provides an essential, if imperfect, route for blood circulation. Babies with such conditions are blue because some oxygen-poor blood isn't sent to the lungs to take on oxygen. The amount of oxygen-poor blood bypassing the lungs depends on the size of the patent foramen ovale and various pressures within the heart.
