Table 1.
List of included studies and PFO prevalence by diagnostic modality.
| Studies—all ages | Healthy/control population | Cryptogenic events | Non-cryptogenic events | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| PFO(+)/Total Prevalence (%) | PFO(+)/Total Prevalence (%) | PFO(+)/Total Prevalence (%) | Age (years) | |
| Autopsy Studies | ||||
| Hagen et al. (16) | 263/965 | >1 | ||
| 27.2 | ||||
| Thompson and Evans (17) | 386/1,100 | All | ||
| 35.1 | ||||
| Patten (18) | 683/3,277 | Mostly adults | ||
| 20.8 | ||||
| Parsons and Keith (19) | 103/399 | All | ||
| 25.8 | ||||
| Fawcett and Blachford (20) | 96/306 | >10 | ||
| 31.4 | ||||
| Seib (21) | 85/500 | >20 | ||
| 17 | ||||
| Wright et al. (22) | 113/492 | Mostly adults | ||
| 23 | ||||
| Schroeckenstein et al. (23) | 50/144 | >20 | ||
| 34.7 | ||||
| Sweeney and Rosenquist (24) | 20/64 | >10 | ||
| 31.2 | ||||
| Penther (25) | 73/500 | Adults | ||
| 14.6 | ||||
| Total | 1,872/7,747 | |||
| 24.2 | ||||
| Transesophageal Echocardiography | ||||
| Cabanes et al. (26) | 9/50 | 36/64 | 7/36 | <55 |
| 18 | 56.3 | 19.5 | ||
| Jones et al. (27) | 2/19 | 4/14 | 3/12 | <50 |
| 11 | 28.6 | 25 | ||
| 18/117 | 5/30 | 10/59 | 50–69 | |
| 15 | 16.7 | 17 | ||
| 11/66 | 5/27 | 8/78 | >70 | |
| 17 | 18.5 | 10.2 | ||
| Job et al. (28) | 27/63 | 27/41 | 11/33 | <55 |
| 43 | 65.8 | 33.3 | ||
| Meissner et al. (29) | 148/581 | >45 | ||
| 25.5 | ||||
| Mesa et al. (30) | 7/35 | 23/55 | <50 | |
| 20 | 42 | |||
| Cerrato et al. (31) | 6/27 | 27/53 | <50 | |
| 22.2 | 51 | |||
| 7/51 | 16/53 | >50 | ||
| 13.7 | 30.1 | |||
| Hausmann et al. (32) | 2/18 | 9/18 | 0/1 | <40 |
| 11.1 | 50 | 0 | ||
| 23/98 | 3/20 | 6/22 | >40 | |
| 23.5 | 15 | 27.3 | ||
| van Camp et al. (33) | 11/28 | 19/24 | All | |
| 39.3 | 79.1 | |||
| Schuchlenz et al. (34) | 38/123 | 54/66 | <60 | |
| 30.9 | 81.8 | |||
| Schwerzmann et al. (35) | 16/93 | Young | ||
| 17.2 | ||||
| Ranoux et al. (36) | 31/54 | 1/14 | <55 | |
| 57.4 | 7.1 | |||
| Homma et al. (37) | 16/36 | 7/38 | All | |
| 44.4 | 18.4 | |||
| Petty et al. (38) | 22/55 | 15/61 | All | |
| 40 | 25 | |||
| Mas et al. (39) | 267/581 | <55 | ||
| 46 | ||||
| Homma et al. (40) | 98/250 | 105/351 | All | |
| 39.2 | 29.9 | |||
| Petty et al. (41) | 33/133 | 27/158 | All | |
| 24.8 | 17.1 | |||
| Handke et al. (42) | 36/82 | 7/49 | <55 | |
| 43.9 | 14.3 | |||
| 41/145 | 27/227 | >55 | ||
| 28.3 | 11.9 | |||
| Zahn et al. (43) | 50/118 | 18/70 | All | |
| 42.4 | 25.7 | |||
| Di Tullio et al. (44) | 9/19 | 8/25 | All | |
| 47.3 | 32 | |||
| Kim et al. (45) | 76/245 | All | ||
| 31 | ||||
| Komar et al. (46) | 69/88 | <55 | ||
| 78.4 | ||||
| De Castro et al. (47) | 133/343 | All | ||
| 38.8 | ||||
| Weimar et al. (48) | 376/1,126 | All | ||
| 33.4 | ||||
| Nighoghossian et al. (49) | 27/79 | <60 | ||
| 34 | ||||
| Klötzsch et al. (50) | 31/40 | 19/71 | All | |
| 77.5 | 26.7 | |||
| Mesa et al. (51) | 70/194 | 2/24 | <55 | |
| 36 | 8.3 | |||
| 17/44 | >55 | |||
| 38.6 | ||||
| Total | 325/1369 | 1,630/4,097 | 281/1,329 | |
| 23.7 | 39.8 | 21.1 | ||
| Transthoracic Echocardiography | ||||
| Lechat et al. (52) | 10/100 | 20/41 | 4/19 | <55 |
| 10 | 48.8 | 21 | ||
| Di Tullio et al. (53) | 164/1,100 | >39 | ||
| 14.9 | ||||
| Tatlidere et al. (54) | 6/27 | All | ||
| 22.2 | ||||
| Webster et al. (55) | 6/40 | 19/34 | <40 | |
| 15 | 55.9 | |||
| Di Tullio et al. (56) | 10/21 | 1/24 | <55 | |
| 47.6 | 4.2 | |||
| 9/24 | 6/77 | >55 | ||
| 37.5 | 7.8 | |||
| Jeanrenaud et al. (57) | 8/11 | 0/5 | <50 | |
| 72.7 | 0 | |||
| Total | 186/1,267 | 66/131 | 11/125 | |
| 14.7 | 50.4 | 8.8 | ||
| Transcranial Doppler | ||||
| Serena et al. (58) | 32/100 | 30/53 | 38/150 | All |
| 32 | 56.6 | 25.3 | ||
| Del Sette et al. (59) | 8/50 | <50 | ||
| 16 | ||||
| Anzola et al. (60) | 5/25 | <55 | ||
| 20 | ||||
| Domitrz et al. (61) | 16/65 | <55 | ||
| 24.6 | ||||
| Koutroulou et al. (62) | 50/115 | 42/84 | <55 | |
| 43.5 | 50 | |||
| Serena et al. (63) | 162/229 | <55 | ||
| 70.7 | ||||
| 135/257 | >55 | |||
| 52.5 | ||||
| Mazzuco et al. (64) | 29/74 | 16/52 | <60 | |
| 39.2 | 30.8 | |||
| 68/190 | 44/207 | >60 | ||
| 35.8 | 21.2 | |||
| Palazzo et al. (65) | 34/47 | <55 | ||
| 72.3 | ||||
| Yeung et al. (66) | 16/27 | <50 | ||
| 59.3 | ||||
| 27/89 | >50 | |||
| 30.3 | ||||
| 17/94 | All | |||
| 18 | ||||
| Schminke et al. (67) | 33/60 | 8/40 | All | |
| 55 | 20 | |||
| Consoli et al. (68) | 77/327 | 170/797 | All | |
| 23.5 | 21.3 | |||
| Carod-Artal et al. (69) | 37/90 | 5/40 | <45 | |
| 41.1 | 11.1 | |||
| 16/64 | 25/136 | >45 | ||
| 25 | 18.4 | |||
| Total | 111/355 | 706/1,591 | 323/1,516 | |
| 31.3 | 44.4 | 21.3 | ||
All ages are included.