OBJECTIVE: To verify the frequency of patent foramen ovale (PFO) among patients with ischemic stroke (cryptogenic or with a known cause) investigated by transcranial doppler (TCD) and transesophageal echocardiography. Secondarily, to determine the diagnostic validity of the former, compared with the later method. METHOD: Retrospectively, 124 patients (<51 years old) with ischemic stroke were submitted to TCD and or transesophageal echocardiography. The patients were classified as cryptogenic stroke or not. RESULTS: We could found an important association between cryptogenic ischemic stroke and PFO (odds ratio 4.3 - CI 95% 1.7 - 10.7). Only five cases of interatrial septal aneurysm were diagnosed among patients with PFO. Sensitivity, specificity and positive and negative predictive values exhibited values upper of 85%, equivalents, at least based on confidence intervals. CONCLUSION: We could determine, for the first time in our country, a strong association between cryptogenic ischemic stroke and PFO. The TCD is a valuable diagnostic resource in this context since its validity was considered excellent. A detailed investigation in these cases should always be done due to the possibility of FOP closure.
patent foramen ovale; atrial heart septal defects; stroke; transesophageal echocardiography; transcranial doppler
