Short-Term and Two-Year Rate of Recurrent Cerebrovascular Events in Patients with Acute Cerebral Ischemia of Undetermined Aetiology, with and without a Patent Foramen Ovale

Table 1

Differences in demographic, clinical, and vascular risk factors between patients with a PFO confirmed by combined ultrasound approach and those with negative TCD study for RLS (i.e., PFO-negative patients).

	PFO (+) patients; 𝑛=57	PFO (−) patients; 𝑛=72	P value
Age, mean (±SD) y.o.	57 (±14)	60 (±14)	0.57
Age ≤55 y.o., 𝑛 (%)	21 (37%)	26 (36%)	0.67
Female sex, 𝑛 (%)	27 (48%)	25 (34%)	0.02
Vascular risk factors, 𝑛 (%):
Hypertension*	28 (49%)	32 (50%)	0.59
Diabetes mellitus*	8 (14%)	12 (17%)	0.91
Hypercholesterolemia*	17 (30%)	12 (16%)	0.03
Smoking^§	21 (37%)	35 (48%)	0.12
On antiplatelets before stroke/TIA, 𝑛 (%)	14 (25%)	19 (26%)	0.86
Previous TIA or stroke, 𝑛 (%)	11 (19%)	12 (17%)	0.52
On statins before stroke/TIA, 𝑛 (%)	7 (12%)	5 (7%)	0.09
Previous ischemic lesions on MRI, 𝑛 (%)	39 (68%)	55 (76%)	0.25

*Known before stroke or TIA.
^§Current or past (less than 5 years) smoking.