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Although many patient factors increase risk for perioperative stroke (e.g., older age, prior stroke, diabetes), little is known about stroke risk due to patent foramen ovale (PFO), despite its high prevalence (approximately a quarter of the population has PFO). Researchers retrospectively analyzed >150,000 patients at three Massachusetts hospitals who underwent noncardiac surgery; 1540 patients (≈1%) had diagnosed PFOs prior to surgery.
At 30 days after surgery, 49 strokes had occurred in the PFO group versus 801 strokes in the group without PFO (3.2% vs. 0.5%). In an analysis adjusted for potential confounders, PFO patients were at significantly higher risk for ischemic stroke (odds ratio, 2.7). This difference held up in additional sensiti…