Port-Access Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery for Patent Foramen Ovale Complicated with Paradoxical Cerebral Embolism

(Second Department of Surgery, Yamagata University Faculty of Medicine, Yamagata, Japan, and Cardiovascular Surgery, Iwaki Kyouritsu Hospital*, Iwaki, Japan)

Tetsuro Uchida Cholsu Kim Yoshiyuki Maekawa
Eiichi Oba Jun Hayashi Yukihiro Yoshimura
Mitsuaki Sadahiro Syunichi Kondo*
The patient was a 63-year-old man, who had developed cerebral infarction during treatment for sleep apnea syndrome. He also presented typical features of deep venous thrombosis of the right lower extremity. Transesophageal echocardiography clearly showed the blood flow passing through the patent foramen ovale(PFO)followed by Valsalva maneuver. Paradoxical cerebral embolism caused by a PFO was diagnosed. Several procedures were considered to prevent recurrence of cerebral infarction, he underwent PFO closure by minimally invasive procedure, so-called port-access cardiac surgery. He started walking on the day of surgery, and postoperative echocardiography showed no residual shunt flow. Currently, no catheter-based PFO closure device is allowed in Japan, the PFO closure by the port-access technique should be considered as a feasible alternative.
  Jpn. J. Cardiovasc. Surg. 41:250-252(2012)

Keywords:patent foramen ovale, paradoxical cerebral embolism, port-access surgery