Table 1. Baseline demographic, clinical and echocardiographic characteristics of the study population.
|
Overall (n=122) |
RLS ≤1 (n=93) |
RLS ≥2 (n=29) |
p-value | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Baseline characteristics | ||||
| Age, years (mean±SD) | 48±12 | 48±11 | 46±14 | 0.349 |
| Female, n (%) | 61 (50.0) | 50 (53.8) | 11 (37.9) | 0.137 |
| BMI, kg/m2 (IQR) | 21 (19-23) | 21 (19-24) | 21 (18-23) | 0.702 |
| RoPE score, points (IQR) | 6 (5-7) | 6 (5-7) | 6 (5-7) | 0.478 |
| RoPE ≥6, n (%) | 71 (61.2) | 56 (60.2) | 15 (65.2) | 0.659 |
| Medical history | ||||
| Hypertension, n (%) | 29 (24.0) | 23 (24.7) | 6 (21.4) | 0.720 |
| Diabetes, n (%) | 3 (2.5) | 3 (3.2) | 0 (0.0) | 1.000 |
| Smoking history, n (%) | 26 (21) | 20 (21.5) | 6 (20.6) | 0.993 |
| Dyslipidaemia, n (%) | 31 (25.4) | 24 (25.8) | 14 (24.0) | 0.932 |
| Family history of CVD, n (%) | 16 (13.1) | 10 (10.7) | 6 (20.7) | 0.144 |
| Prior deep vein thrombosis, n (%) | 4 (3.3) | 2 (2.2) | 2 (7.1) | 0.229 |
| Thrombotic diathesis, n (%) | 13 (10.7) | 8 (8.6) | 5 (17.9) | 0.166 |
| Clinical presentation | ||||
| Cryptogenic stroke, n (%) | 47 (38.8) | 32 (34.4) | 15 (53.6) | 0.068 |
| TIA, n (%) | 39 (32.2) | 30 (32.3) | 9 (32.1) | 0.991 |
| Intractable migraine, n (%) | 26 (21.5) | 19 (20.4) | 7 (25.0) | 0.606 |
| Decompression sickness, n (%) | 11 (9.0) | 10 (10.8) | 1 (3.4) | 0.457 |
| Neuroimaging ischaemic lesion, n (%) | 87 (71.9) | 65 (69.9) | 22 (78.6) | 0.669 |
| Anatomical characteristics | ||||
| Atrial septal aneurysm, n (%) | 19 (15.6) | 10 (10.8) | 9 (31.0) | 0.009 |
| Atrial septal hypermobility, n (%) | 48 (39.3) | 30 (32.3) | 18 (62.1) | 0.004 |
| Septum cribrosus, n (%) | 2 (1.7) | 1 (1.1) | 1 (3.4) | 0.423 |
| Chiari network, n (%) | 84 (69.4) | 58 (63.0) | 26 (89.7) | 0.007 |
| Fossa ovalis diameter, mm (IQR) | 20 (17-22) | 20 (17-22) | 19 (17-23) | 0.941 |
| PFO tunnel length, mm (IQR) | 11 (9-13) | 11 (9-12) | 12 (9-15) | 0.058 |
| PFO width, mm (IQR) | 2.6 (2-3.8) | 2.5 (2.0-3.0) | 3.0 (2.3-4.0) | 0.020 |
| Functional characteristics | ||||
| Interatrial shunting at rest, n (%) | 34 (28.1) | 20 (21.7) | 14 (48.3) | 0.006 |
| Atrial RLS after Valsalva, n (%) | 122 (100.0) | 93 (100.0) | 29 (100.0) | - |
| Left-to-right shunt, n (%) | 16 (13.2) | 9 (9.8) | 7 (24.1) | 0.047 |
| Spontaneous colour Doppler shunt, n (%) | 10 (8.3) | 8 (8.7) | 2 (7.1) | 1.000 |
| Grade of RLS after Valsalva at TTE/TOE | ||||
| Mild, n (%) | 10 (8.2) | 10 (10.8) | 0 (0.0) | 0.115 |
| Moderate, n (%) | 68 (55.7) | 53 (57.0) | 15 (51.7) | 0.618 |
| Severe, n (%) | 44 (36.1) | 30 (32.3) | 14 (48.3) | 0.117 |
| Grade of RLS after Valsalva at TCD, n (%) | ||||
| Mild, n (%) | 9 (9.9) | 9 (13.4) | 0 (0.0) | 0.105 |
| Moderate, n (%) | 40 (44.0) | 32 (47.8) | 8 (33.3) | 0.222 |
| Severe, n (%) | 42 (46.2) | 26 (38.8) | 16 (66.7) | 0.019 |
| Categorical variables are expressed as n (%). Continuous variables are expressed as median and interquartile range (IQR), as appropriate. BMI: body mass index; CVD: cardiovascular disease; PFO: patent foramen ovale; RLS: right-to-left shunt, RoPE score: Risk of Paradoxical Embolism score; TCD: transcranial Doppler; TIA: transient ischaemic attack; TOE: transoesophageal echocardiography; TTE: transthoracic echocardiography | ||||