Epidemiology of Patent Foramen Ovale in General Population and in Stroke Patients: A Narrative Review

Introduction:Percutaneous closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) in selected patients with cryptogenic cerebrovascular ischemic events (CE) decreases the risk of recurrent stroke; however, optimal patient selection criteria are still under investigation. Candidates for PFO closure are usually selected from the pool of CE patients with a high Risk of Paradoxical Embolism (RoPE) score. The RoPE score calculates the probability that PFO is causally...