Comparison of right-to-left shunt characteristics in cryptogenic embolic ischemic stroke and non-cardioembolic ischemic stroke.

The current study demonstrated that almost 70% of patients with undetermined embolic stroke and PFO presented a large RLS and more than 75% had RLS at rest. These findings suggest that the size of the shunt should be taken into account when evaluating whether PFO could be a possible mechanism underlying cryptogenic stroke.