Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is an embryonic defect, seen in up to 25% of adults¹, that has been associated with increased risk of ischemic, cryptogenic stroke. It is defined as an opening in the septum between the atria that acts as a conduit for emboli from the deep veins of the pelvis or legs to the brain. Closure of a PFO may prevent paradoxical embolus from passing through a PFO and thereby reduce the risk of recurrent stroke.
PFO closure is a same-day, out-patient procedure performed under general anesthesia or conscious sedation in a heart catheterization laboratory. The catheter-based procedure involves making a very small skin incision, guided by fluoroscopy and intracardiac echocardiography, typically in the right groin area, and inserting a catheter to guide the Amplatzer™ PFO Occluder through the blood vessels to close the PFO within the patient’s heart.
Patients were first treated with the Amplatzer™ PFO Occluder in 1997. Over two decades later, over 130,000 patients have been treated worldwide.²
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