Stroke in a scuba diver with patent foramen ovale

Journal Article

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European journal of neurology

Eur.J.Neurol.

Jan

LR: 20151113; JID: 9506311; ppublish

England

1351-5101; 1351-5101

PMID: 11784382

eng

Case Reports; Journal Article; IM

347 [pii]

Unknown(0)

11784382

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a frequent condition which carries a significant risk for stroke when associated with deep venous thrombosis and primary or secondary coagulation abnormalities. Here, we describe a patient in which scuba diving is thought to be associated with stroke in a subject with an otherwise clinically silent PFO. During a rapid ascent a 43-year-old-scuba diver reported weakness and paresthesias in the right arm which lasted about 10 min. He presented similar symptoms 2 days later 1 h after diving, and a third time on his flight back home. The MRI showed multiple hyperintense areas on T2-weighted images in the white matter. Transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) showed a PFO, whilst all haematological and haemocoagulation tests were negative. Scuba diving may constitute a patho-physiological condition in the presence of PFO as breath-holding promotes right-to-left shunt and arterialization of venous bubbles.

Adult, Brain/pathology, Diving, Electroencephalography, Electromyography, Heart Septal Defects, Atrial/complications/pathology, Humans, Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Male, Stroke/etiology/pathology/radiography, Ultrasonography, Doppler, Transcranial

Buttinelli,C., Beccia,M., Argentino,C.

Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Universita degli Studi La Sapienza, viale dell'Universita no. 30, 00185 Rome, Italy. carla.buttinelli@uniroma1.it

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2002