Related Experiment Video
Updated: Dec 3, 2025

Closure of a Patent Foramen Ovale PFO: An Intervention Sequence
Published on: December 23, 2022
Left ventricular pacemaker wire through patent foramen ovale
Nicholas Suraci1, Saberio Lo Presti2, Gilberto George Concepcion3
1Department of Anesthesiology, Mount Sinai Medical Center, Miami, Florida, United States.
Abstract:
A 53-year-old male status post pacemaker placement three months prior for sinus bradycardia presented with worsening dyspnea, holosystolic murmur, and a ventricular-paced right bundle branch block on electrocardiogram. Transesophageal echocardiography demonstrated a pacer wire in the right atrium coursing into the left atrium and ventricle through an undiagnosed patent foramen ovale. The patient underwent surgical repair and repositioning of the pacemaker lead without complication. Although rare, it should be suspected after recent lead placement.

