Register for email alerts and news feeds:
This journal | BMJ Group
rss
Published 23 July 2009
Cite this as: BMJ Case Reports 2009 [doi:10.1136/bcr.11.2008.1211]
Copyright © 2009 by the BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Unusual association of diseases/symptoms

Patent foramen ovale and hypercoagulable state in the pathogenesis of acute thrombotic myocardial infarction

Leonarda Galiuto, Simona Giubilato, Alberto R De Caterina, Angelo Porfidia, Christian Colizzi, Alfonso Sestito, Italo Porto, Carlo Trani, Antonio G Rebuzzi, Filippo Crea

Catholic University, Cardiology Institute, 1, L.go F. Vito, Rome, 00168, Italy

Correspondence to:
Leonarda Galiuto, lgaliuto{at}rm.unicatt.it

SUMMARY

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a known cause of cryptogenic stroke and, when associated with a condition of thrombophilia, its closure has been shown to reduce the recurrence of cerebral embolic events. Here we present a case of a young man, with a history of previous recurrent cerebral ischaemic episodes, that developed an inferior acute myocardial infarction (AMI) with angiographic evidence of thrombotic occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA). Thrombus aspiration followed by balloon angioplasty was performed and, after 24 h of glycoprotein IIb/IIIa inhibitor infusion, thrombus was no longer evident at coronary angiography. Screening for thrombophilia revealed heterozygosis for prothrombin G20210A polymorphism. At transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE), a large PFO with right-to-left atrial shunt was present. Given the history of multiple thrombotic clinical events and the associated state of thrombophilia, transcatheter PFO closure was successfully performed. At 12 months of follow-up the patient was completely asymptomatic.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati    What's this?

This Article

Services
Google Scholar
PubMed
Topic Collections
Bookmark with

Register for free content

The full text of all Editor's Choice articles and summaries of every article are free without registration

The full text of Images in ... articles are free to registered users

Only fellows can access the full text of case reports (apart from Editor's Choice) -   become a fellow  today, or encourage your institution to, so that together we can grow and develop this resource

Don't forget to sign up for content alerts  so you keep up to date with all the case reports as they are published, and let us know what you think by commenting on the Editor's blog