Right-to-left interatrial shunt secondary to an extensive right ventricular myocardial infarction

This case report describes a rare complication of right ventricular myocardial infarction. Hypoxemia in this setting has only been described in two previous cases with a right-to-left interatrial shunt. This is surprising, given the high incidence of probe patent foramen ovale in randomly selected necropsy cases. Two-dimensional echocardiography with contrast is the method of choice for detecting this abnormality.