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Review
. 2025 Feb 19:20:e04.
doi: 10.15420/icr.2024.18. eCollection 2025.

Patent Foramen Ovale Closure: British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Position Statement

Mark Turner  1 , Suneil K Aggarwal  2 , Michael J Mullen  2 , Iqbal Malik  3 , Philip MacCarthy  4 , David Northridge  5 , Mark S Spence  6 , Bushra Rana  3 , David Hildick-Smith  7
Affiliations
Review

Patent Foramen Ovale Closure: British Cardiovascular Intervention Society Position Statement

Mark Turner et al. Interv Cardiol. .

Abstract

The foramen ovale is a flap in the atrial septum that is open in the fetus to allow oxygenated blood returning from the placenta to pass to the systemic circulation. In early life, the primum septal flap should close, but in 25% of people the flap does not seal fully. Most patent foramen ovale (PFO) are small and open only following Valsalva. Resting right-to-left shunts are less common, occurring in 5% of individuals. This British Cardiovascular Intervention Society position statement describes the diagnosis, indications and procedure for PFO closure.

Keywords: British Cardiovascular Intervention Society position statement; Patent foramen ovale closure; stroke prevention.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure: MT has received proctoring fees from Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Occlutech, Gore; consulting fees from Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences, Medtronic, Occlutech; honoraria from Abbott, Edwards Lifesciences; payment for expert testimony from Abbott; travel support from Abbott, iCardiology, Edwards, Medtronic, Gore and Occlutech and is the Domain head for NICOR. SKA has received proctor fees from Abbott, Sahajanand Medical Technologies and Boston Scientific. MJM has received consulting fees from Abbott Vascular. DN was paid as an advisor to Abbott and Occlutech. MSS has received honoraria from WL Gore and Abbott. BR received honoraria from Abbott, Philips and Occlutech. DHS is an advisor/proctor to Abbott, Gore, Occlutech and Lifetech. All other authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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