DETECTION OF PATENT FORAMEN OVALE BY TRANSCRANIAL CONTRAST DOPPLER ULTRASOUND

The results of recent studies suggest that paradoxical embolism through a right-to-left shunt may more often be the cause of stroke than was previously supposed. Especially in young patients with otherwise unexplained stroke, the prevalence of a patent foramen ovale has been significantly higher (54 and 56%) than in asymptomatic control subjects (10%).1,2 Currently, contrast echocardiography together with a Valsalva maneuver is the only noninvasive method that reveals this defect.3,4 Based on the accurracy of transcranial Doppler sonography in the detection of intracerebral emboli during carotid endarterectomy,5 we investigated whether the route of paradoxical cerebral embolism through patent foramen ovale may be traced reliably by transcranial contrast Doppler sonography. © 1992.