There is emerging evidence regarding the increased risk of perioperative stroke in patients with PFO, leading to an important clinical practice question: whether PFO should be considered in the perioperative risk assessment in non-cardiac surgery patients. The evidence base, however, comes from retrospective studies with numerous limitations.~Patients referred for general, orthopedic, urological, gynecologic, spinal, or thoracic surgery will be screened and consented during the surgery pre-admission clinic visit, and then undergo PFO screening using transcranial Doppler (TCD) and transthoracic echocardiography (TTE). Patients screened PFO+ (n=102) and matched PFO- controls (n=102) will have DW-MRI between postoperative days 2 and 7. Study personnel will conduct phone surveys at 30-day and 1-year post-surgery to collect data on other clinical outcomes. Patients will also be administered cognitive and patient-reported outcome measures assessments before enrollment, and 30-day and 1-year follow-up.
This is a multi-centre, prospective cohort study to determine if aPFO is a risk factor for developing perioperative overt and covert stroke in patients undergoing non-cardiac surgery.