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Patent Foramen Ovale
February 22, 2009 |
During fetal development blood flows through a hole in your heart from the right
chamber to the left. Dr. Elizabeth Cosmi-Cintron, a cardiologist on the medical
staff of Lee Memorial Health System says, “However, when we’re born with the increased
pressures coming into the left heart chamber, that passage way closes.” Once closed,
the blood then runs from the right heart chamber through the lungs to the left heart
chamber.
In about a third of the population, that passage way doesn’t close on its own. “That
passageway still can continue to allow for blood to flow from the right heart chamber
to the left heart chamber and that’s called a Patent Foramen Ovale,” says Dr. Cosmi-Cintron.
This is a defect of the heart that works like a flap valve only opening in situations
when there is added pressure inside the chest, such as coughing or sneezing.
If there is enough pressure, blood may travel from the right side of the heart directly
to the left side and this could be dangerous if there is a clot. Dr. Steven Longobardi
says, “This allows a communication potential clot to transfer from the right side
of the heart to the left side of the heart where it can enter the circulation and
then cause a mini stroke.”
Unfortunately that mini stroke may be the first and only symptom of a patent foramen
ovale so
it’s important to know the symptoms of a stroke. These warning signs include
weakness of the face, arm or leg on one side of the body and loss of vision or speech. |
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