Patent Foramen Ovale in Patients with Sickle Cell Disease and Stroke: Case Presentations and Review of the Literature

Table 1

Summary of past reported studies with SCD patients with PFO and CVA.

Studies	Dowling et al., 2009 [22]	Dowling et al.,; 2010 [23]
[Number of patients with SCD + CVA]	1	40 (overt stroke in 30, silent infarction in 10)
Age of patients (years)	11	2–19
Number of patients with PFO	1	10
Hemoglobinopathy	HbSS	39 HbSS, 1 Hbβ ^0/S
Incidence of PFO	100%	25%
[Number of non-SCD patients with CVA]	N/A	60
Age of patients (years)	N/A	0.25–19
Number of patients with PFO	N/A	7
Incidence of PFO	N/A	11.7%

SCD: Sickle cell disease; PFO: patent foramen ovale; CVA: cerebrovascular accident.