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Closure of a Patent Foramen Ovale (PFO): An Intervention Sequence
Published on: December 23, 2022
Impending paradoxical embolism across a patent foramen ovale: case report
Minoo N Kavarana1, Todd Boice, Laman A Gray
1Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Louisville School of, Medicine, Louisville, Kentucky 40202, USA. mkavarana@att.net
Abstract:
We describe a case of impending paradoxical embolism in a 43-year-old male patient with pulmonary embolism. Transesophageal echocardiography revealed a thromboembolus straddling a patent foramen ovale. The patient underwent emergency removal of the intracardiac clot with closure of the patent foramen ovale. A postoperative work-up for a hypercoagulable state revealed a protein-S deficiency and bilateral lower extremity deep vein thromboses. A Greenfield inferior vena cava filter was inserted, anticoagulation was performed, and warfarin treatment was continued after the patient was discharged home.
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