Any Members Experience a PFO?

PFO doesn't *cause* a stroke or TIA

by crustyg - 2019-12-27 16:35:24

What you've described is a TIA if the effects last <24hr.  All that a PFO does is bypass nature's blood clot filter (the lungs) and allow a clot to pass from the right-sided circulation straight to the left side, A=>V then up to the brain.

PFOs are incredibly common - I think there's been a post-mortem study that suggested as many as 25% of the population can be shown to have a demonstrable PFO, although whether they could have been detected in life is moot.  I would imagine that they've looked quite carefully for a PFO in you - echo, +/-MRI of heart.  Actually doing something about a PFO is another challenge.  If it's small enough that you've got to your age without major issues then it's going to be very small (in terms of how much blood flows R=>L through it), so it's probably not a real cause of a paradoxical embolus.  Left atrial appendage is a much more common source of clots to the brain in folk with AFib or some irregular rhythms.

TIAs don't have a great prognosis - unless you can find the cause of the clots and get it treated.  Are you on oral anti-coagulants (may not be wise at the moment)?  What's your CHA2DS2 score?

PFO - TIA - Stroke

by maddieross - 2019-12-27 18:30:29

You are correct. They think the clots came from--or the PFO was the origin of the clots.....Yes, I am now on Eliquios, and I do NOT know what CHAzDS2 is......let alone the "score"!  And they are noticing irregular rhythms...but they are not focused, at least right now, on AFib...

CHA2DS2-VASc

by Gemita - 2019-12-28 07:12:46

Hello Maddieross,

The CHA2DS2-VASc score is used as a guide to assess the need for anticoagulation, but since you are on Eliquis, I presume your score requires you to be on it.  

If you google CHA2DS2-VASc Score you will find details of the points system they use to determine whether a patient with arrhythmias like Atrial Fibrillation should be taking anticoagulation or not.  It is based on certain risk factors like age, history of Stroke/TIA, hypertension, heart disease, diabetes . . . and being female awards me a point also.  How lucky is that.

It only takes a short run of Atrial Fibrillation for example to place us at risk for an AF related stroke and because AF can be so difficult to detect, especiallly when it is intermittent (known as paroxysmal AF) many doctors refer to the CHA2DS2-VASc scoring system for guidance on whether anticoagulation should be started.

I wish you well and freedom from the potential devastation of a stroke.  Keep healthy and fit 

PFO and CHA2DS2-VASc

by maddieross - 2019-12-29 17:32:10

Thanks, Gemita and crustyg for your comments. The pacemaker implant increased my quality of living. Nothing beats that!

I SHALL keep healthy and fit! 

I do appreciate your comments!

PFO = Clots

by AgentX86 - 2019-12-29 22:29:08

PFO may increase the probability of a embolic stroke but I don't think it's the largest contributor.  The Left Artrial Appendage is the source of  something like 90% of the embolitic strokes. particilary if you have Afib or similar arrhythmia. If the source was the right atrium and you didn't pass through the hole in  your septum, on to the brain, it would have ended up in a lung (pulmonary embolism), which is better than a stroke but still not nothing. Seems like a much smaller probability.