For children needing treatment for a PFO, we use cardiac catheterization to close the defect with a small device. Select a state and find a physician near you who is Gore-certified on GORE CARDIOFORM Septal Occluder for PFO closure procedures.During this procedure, a catheter with a closure device is inserted through the leg vein up to the heart, where the device is left to close up the flap. Learn more about the causes and complications of this condition in which a hole in the heart doesn't close the way it should after birth. Your Florida Heart, Vein and Vascular Institute provider performs a minimally invasive catheter-based procedure to close the hole. Congenital heart disease. If you have a PFO and low blood oxygen levels or an unexplained stroke, you may need a procedure to close the hole. Author links open overlay panel The presence of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of medical conditions. A patent foramen ovale (PFO)