Copyright ©ERS Journals Ltd 2001 Patent foramen ovale causing position-dependent shunting in a patient, when laying down her corsetDepts of 1 Pulmonology and 2 Cardiology, St. Antonius Hospital Nieuwegein, and 3 Dept of Pulmonology, Overvecht Hospital Utrecht CORRESPONDENCE: C.J.J. Westermann, Dept of Pulmonology, Sint Antonius Hospital, PO Box 2500, 3430 EM Nieuwegein, the Netherlands. Fax: 31 3060952001 Keywords: orthodeoxia, patent foramen ovale, percutaneous closure, position-;dependent right-to-left shunt
Received: January 4, 2001 Abstract
A 75-;yr-old female presented with platypnoea and orthodeoxia, shortly after laying down an old and pinching corset. The injection of activated Haemaccel in the right cubital vene during transoesophageal echocardiography, in the upright position, revealed a direct blood flow from the superior caval vein at a patent foremen ovale, consequently opening it and causing a large right-to-left shunt which was calculated at 28.5%. In the supine position there was only a minimal opening of the patent foremen ovale with a calculated right-to-left shunt of 9.5%. The patent foremen ovale was successfully closed percutaneously with a CardioSEALTM.
This article has been cited by other articles:
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||