In recent years, patients who have echocardiograms often are told they have a condition doctors call PFO for short.

Cardiologist Brian Hanlon explains that when babies are developing in the womb they have a normal opening between the left and right atria---the upper chambers of the heart. If this opening fails to close naturally soon after the baby is born, the condition is called patent foramen ovale. "Other wise known as PFO. When the baby is born, that septum fuses in 80% of people, 20 to 25 % of the people it remains open and most often it causes no trouble."

Dr. Hanlon says that this defect has been linked to migraine headaches and is also thought to increase stroke risk. "If we are involved with a patient who's had a stroke with no identifiable cause, we work very closely with neurologists on this."

Echo lab manager, Gayle Davis says that the best test to detect a PFO is with an echocardiogram. A small amount of fluid is injected through an IV and then the abnormality is detected. "In an adult, usually the right side of the heart would be enlarged and you would actually see flow going across the atrial septum in certain views of the echo."

Gayle also says that when PFO's cause health issues doctors may recommend surgery to repair them. A closure device is inserted through a small incision in the groin area. Technological advances are continually being made in this area of surgery. "We may even be getting into more non-invasive ways of repairing PFO's."

If your PFO does not cause any symptoms, then it's possible that no treatment may be needed.

A PFO frequently goes undiagnosed until the patient experiences a TIA or a stroke.