(Stroke. 2001;32:1563.)
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
Original Contributions |
Is Patent Foramen Ovale a Family Trait?
A Transcranial Doppler Sonographic Study
From Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Sainte Anne (C.A., J.-L.M.); Service de Biostatistique et d’Informatique Médicale, Hôpital Cochin (J.C.); and Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Lariboisière (P.-J.T.), Paris, France.
Correspondence to Pr. Jean-Louis Mas, Service de Neurologie, Hôpital Sainte Anne, 1 rue Cabanis, 75674 Paris Cedex 14, France. E-mail mas{at}chsa.broca.inserm.fr
Background and Purpose—Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a frequent finding in young patients with stroke. The aim of this study was to assess whether PFO is a family trait.
Methods—Sixty-two consecutive patients younger than 60 years of age with ischemic stroke and 62 age and gender-matched control siblings were examined by means of contrast transcranial Doppler (TCD) of the middle cerebral artery, using a standardized protocol. The reliability of TCD examination in our laboratory was assessed against transesophageal echocardiography (TEE). All TCD recordings were reviewed by a blinded experienced observer from another center. Disagreements between readers were resolved by unblinded consensus review.
Results—Siblings of
patients with PFO had a significantly higher prevalence of PFO than had
siblings of patients without PFO (61.5% versus 30.6%; OR 3.64 [1.3
to 10.5]; P=0.015). The 
statistics indicated that agreement of pairs (patients/control
siblings) was not due to chance. The strength of the association was
sex dependent. In women pairs, prevalence of a PFO was 76.5% in
siblings of patients with PFO and 25% in siblings of patients without
PFO, giving an OR of 9.8 (95% CI 2 to 47.9;
P<0.01). In contrast, in men,
no significant difference was observed in the prevalence of PFO between
siblings of patients with or without PFO (respectively 33.3% and
35%), giving an OR of 0.9 (95% CI 0.2 to 4.9;
P=0.9).
Conclusions—This study suggests that, in women, PFO is a family trait.
Key Words: patent foramen ovale • transcranial doppler • ultrasonics
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