The walue of transcranial Doppler in assessing patent foramen ovale in cryptogenic stroke patients

Objective To evaluate transcranial Doppler(TCD) with antecubital administration of agitated saline contrast on the diagnosis patent foramen ovale(PFO) in cryptogenic stroke patients. Methods Fifty-one patients(less than 55 years old) with cryptogenic stroke were collected.PFO was detected by transthoracic echocardiography(TTE)and TCD.Clinically significant secondary right-to-left shunt(RLS) was defined on TCD with antecubital administration of agitated saline contrast. Results 28 of 51 patients showed negative signals in TCD detection and no PFO was detected by TTE.23 patients showed positive signals in TCD detection,and 18 of the 23 patients had PFO revealed by TTE.The incidence rates of migraine,arial septal aneurysm and deep vein thrombosis in lower limbs were higher in patients with positive TCD signal(P0.05). Conclusions TCD with agitated saline contrast is sensitive in detecting a patent foramen ovale,it may be an effective screening technique for detecting the pathogeny of cryptogenic stroke.