Details.
Percutaneous transcatheter closure of a patent foramen ovale to reduce the risk of recurrent ischemic stroke in predominantly 18 to 60-year-old patients who have had a cryptogenic stroke due to presumed paradoxical embolism, following evaluation by a neurologist and cardiologist to exclude known causes of ischemic stroke. The approximately 20-minute procedure uses light or conscious sedation, local anesthesia, fluoroscopy, and intracardiac echocardiography. Patients are usually discharged the same day or the next day on a single antiplatelet agent.