Background-Percutaneous transcatheter closure of patent foramen ovale (PFO) is used as an alternative to surgery or long-term anticoagulation for the treatment of patients with paradoxical embolism and PFO. Methods and Results-We report the immediate and long-term clinical and echocardiographic outcome of 110 consecutive patients (58 males, mean age 47Ϯ14 years) who underwent transcatheter closure of PFO because of paradoxical embolism between 1995 and 2001. Procedural success, defined as successful deployment of the device and effective occlusion (no, or trivial, shunt after device placement), was achieved in all (100%) patients. There was no in-hospital mortality, 1 device migration requiring surgical intervention (0.9%), and 1 episode of cardiac tamponade (0.9%) requiring pericardiocentesis. A progressive increment in full occlusion was observed (44%, 51%, 66%, and 71% at 1 day, 6 months, and 1 and 2 years, respectively, after device placement). At a mean follow-up of 2.3 years, 2 patients experienced recurrent neurological events (1 fatal stroke and 1 transient ischemic attack), representing an annual risk of recurrence of 0.9%. In addition, 4 (3.6%) of the patients required reintervention for device malalignment or significant shunt. Kaplan-Meier analysis showed a freedom from recurrent embolic events and reintervention of 96% and 90% at 1 and 5 years, respectively. Conclusions-Transcatheter closure of PFO is a safe and effective therapy for patients with paradoxical embolism and PFO. It is associated with a high success rate, low incidence of hospital complications, and low frequency of recurrent systemic embolic events.

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Although there is no significant difference in the rates of conversion 24 h after treatment, propafenone works faster than placebo in achieving sinus rhythm. This rapid action of oral propafenone can be useful to solve quickly the clinical problems of a high proportion of patients arriving at the emergency department with acute atrial fibrillation.

SLN identification permits the accurate pathological study of regional nodes and could reduce the high morbidity of current surgical treatment in vulvar tumour patients if the technique were to be adopted on a routine clinical basis.