this issue
previous article in this issuenext article in this issue

Document Details :

Title: Value of monitoring pulse oximetry for imputability of patent foramen ovale in transient dyspnoea
Author(s): COHEN, Remy , LAPERCHE, Thierry , ROYER, Thierry
Journal: Acta Cardiologica
Volume: 61    Issue: 3   Date: June 2006   
Pages: 353-355
DOI: 10.2143/AC.61.3.2014840

Abstract :
Diagnosis of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is commonly made by echocardiography with contrast injection. PFO can be responsible for a transient right-to-left shunting with paroxysmal dyspnoea but punctual measurements of oxygen saturation may fail to detect arterial desaturations.Thus, claiming the imputability of PFO in dyspnoeic symptoms remains difficult.We report on the case of a 64-year-old man presenting an intermittent disabilitating dyspnoea, for which the pulse oximetry monitoring allowed to impute symptoms to the right-to-left shunting through the PFO and influenced the decision of percutaneous closure.