Citation

Buttinelli C, Beccia M, Argentino C. Eur. J. Neurol. 2002; 9(1): 89-91.

Affiliation

Dipartimento di Scienze Neurologiche, Università degli Studi La Sapienza, viale dell'Università no. 30, 00185 Rome, Italy. carla.buttinelli@uniroma1.it

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, European Federation of Neurological Societies, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

11784382

Abstract

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a frequent condition which carries a significant risk for stroke when associated with deep venous thrombosis and primary or secondary coagulation abnormalities. Here, we describe a patient in which scuba diving is thought to be associated with stroke in a subject with an otherwise clinically silent PFO. During a rapid ascent a 43-year-old-scuba diver reported weakness and paresthesias in the right arm which lasted about 10 min. He presented similar symptoms 2 days later 1 h after diving, and a third time on his flight back home. The MRI showed multiple hyperintense areas on T2-weighted images in the white matter. Transoesophageal echocardiography (TEE) showed a PFO, whilst all haematological and haemocoagulation tests were negative. Scuba diving may constitute a patho-physiological condition in the presence of PFO as breath-holding promotes right-to-left shunt and arterialization of venous bubbles.

Language: en