Plaintiffs conduct entitles it to damages and all other remedies at law.
Plaintiffs conduct entitles it to damages and all other remedies at law.
Treatment most often requires a procedure called cardiac catheterization, which is performed by a trained cardiologist to permanently seal the PFO.
If you were born with a hole in your heart that never closed, known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO), you may need a procedure to correct it. Penn Medicine cardiologists use interventional techniques to close a patent foramen ovale without opening your chest for surgery.
PFO can occasionally result in complications. The most serious of these is stroke. Most people will not need treatment for a PFO. Some people receive treatment for PFO, especially if they have had a stroke due to a PFO.
You may be asleep for the procedure, or you may get a sedative to help you relax. Your doctor makes a small cut in your groin. Then the catheter, with tools inside it, is put into your blood vessel and carefully guided to your heart. Your doctor moves the tip of the catheter to place a small device inside the PFO.
People who do not respond to medication may need a minimally invasive, catheter-based procedure. Your interventional cardiologist closes the PFO with a small closure device. This is done in a cardiac catheterization (cath) laboratory.
If a PFO exists, a little blood can flow between the atria. A robotic-assisted patent foramen ovale repair is a type of minimally invasive surgery. Minimally invasive means that the surgery uses smaller cuts (incisions) than a traditional open heart surgery. Recovery may be easier and faster.
During the procedure, an interventional cardiologist: Makes a tiny incision in your groin and inserts a catheter into a blood vessel. Uses ultrasound imaging to get a closer view of the PFO. May guide a deflated balloon through the catheter and move it to the PFO.
It is a normal part of the circulation of a baby in the uterus. In most infants, this small hole naturally closes very soon after birth. But in some cases, it does not. Having a PFO as an adult or older child is not normal.
Structural Heart Disease: PFO/ASD Closure. Individuals may be born with structural heart disease may or "holes" in the heart that lead to potentially harmful alterations in blood flow. The heart's atrial septum is the tissue membrane that divides the left and right atrial chambers.