• Julia Wallenborn, Stefan C Bertog, Jennifer Franke, Daniel H Steinberg, Nicolas Majunke, Neil Wilson, Nina Wunderlich, and Horst Sievert.
• CardioVascular Center Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany.
• Catheter Cardiovasc Interv. 2013 Oct 1;82(4):541-6.

ObjectivesTo determine the incidence of symptomatic recurrent embolic events after patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure and potential causes for these events.BackgroundIt is well-known that cerebral or other embolic events may occur after PFO closure.MethodsThis is a retrospective analysis of consecutive patients who underwent PFO closure for secondary prevention of embolic events at a single institution.Results1,930 patients (mean age of 50 ± 13.3 years) underwent transcatheter PFO closure. Complete closure occurred in 92%. The annual recurrence rate of embolic events before PFO closure was 22.4% (785 events in 3,497 patient-years). During follow-up (mean 39 months), 63 recurrent events were documented: 25 strokes, 36 transient ischemic attacks (TIAs), and 2 peripheral embolic events. The overall annual recurrence rate after the procedure was 1% per year (63 events in 6,211 patient-years). The majority of events occurred in patients without residual shunts (54/63). There was no significant association between the presence of a residual shunt and recurrent events [hazard ratio (HR) 1.7; 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.8-3.6, P = 0.16]. The most common cause for recurrent events was atherosclerosis. Nine out of 63 events were considered likely or possible paradoxical embolism due to residual shunt [stroke (2), TIA (5), and peripheral embolism (2)]. After PFO closure, the annual rate of events potentially related to paradoxical embolism was 0.14% (9 events in 6,211 patient-years).ConclusionThe incidence of symptomatic embolic events after PFO closure is low. Most recurrent events are related to coexistent conditions associated with thromboembolic risk rather than residual shunts.Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

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