Complications Due to the communication between the<unk> that occurs in<unk> s, disease entities or complications from the condition are possible. Patients with an uncorrected<unk>  may be at increased risk for developing a cardiac arrhythmia, as well as more frequent respiratory infections. Decompression sickness<unk> s, and particularly PFOs, are a predisposing venous blood carrying inert gases, such as helium or nitrogen does not pass through the lungs. The only way to release the excess inert gases from the body is to pass the blood carrying the inert gases through the lungs to be exhaled. If some of the inert gas-laden blood passes through the PFO, it avoids the lungs and the inert gas is more likely to form large bubbles in the arterial blood stream causing decompression sickness. Eisenmenger's syndrome If a net flow of blood exists from the left atrium to the right atrium, called a left-to-right shunt, then an increase in the blood flow through the lungs happens. Initially, this increased blood flow is asymptomatic, but if it persists, the pulmonary blood vessels may stiffen, causing pulmonary hypertension, which increases the pressures in the right side of the heart, leading to the reversal of the shunt into a right-to-left shunt. Reversal of the shunt occurs, and the blood flowing in the opposite direction through the<unk>  is called Eisenmenger's syndrome, a rare and late complication of an<unk> . Paradoxical embolus Venous thrombus (clots in the veins) are quite common. Embolizations (dislodgement of thrombi) normally go to the lung and cause pulmonary emboli. In an individual with<unk> , these emboli can potentially enter the arterial system, which can cause any phenomenon attributed to acute loss of blood to a portion of the body, including cerebrovascular accident (stroke), infarction of the spleen or intestines, or even a distal extremity (i.e., finger or toe). This is known as a paradoxical embolus because the clot material paradoxically enters the arterial system instead of going to the lungs. Migraine Some recent research has suggested that a proportion of cases of migraine may be caused by PFO. While the exact mechanism remains unclear, closure of a PFO can reduce symptoms in certain cases. This remains controversial; 20% of the general population has a PFO, which for the most part, is asymptomatic. About 20% of the female population has migraines, and the placebo effect in migraine typically averages around 40%. The high frequency of these facts make finding statistically significant relationships between PFO and migraine difficult (i.e., the relationship may just be chance or coincidence). In a large randomized controlled<unk> , the higher prevalence of PFO in migraine patients was confirmed, but migraine headache cessation was not more prevalent in the group of migraine patients who underwent closure of their PFOs.
Atrial septal defect
Atrioventricular septal defect
Heart septal defect
Ventricular septal defect
Aortopulmonary septal defect
Tricuspid atresia
Persistent truncus arteriosus
Double inlet left ventricle