A traveler in transit: A case of an impending thrombus entrapped in a patent foramen ovale.

Thrombus across a patent foramen ovale (PFO), also referred to as a pending paradoxical embolus is a rare condition. We report a case of a 50-year-old male taxi driver who was diagnosed with a massive saddle pulmonary embolism, leg deep venous thromboembolism, and pending paradoxical embolus through a PFO with systemic embolization. The patient had an inferior vena cava (IVC) filter inserted immediately followed by surgical thromboembolectomy and closure of PFO.

Risk Stratification in Bicuspid Aortic Valve Aortopathy: Emerging Evidence and Future Perspectives.

The current management of aortic dilatation associated with congenital bicuspid aortic valve (bicuspid aortic valve aortopathy) is based on dimensional parameters (diameter of the aneurysm, growth of the diameter over time) and few other criteria. The disease is however heterogeneous in terms of natural and clinical history and risk of acute complications, ie aortic dissection. Dimensional criteria are now admitted to have limited value as predictors of such complications.