We plan to conduct our study by recruiting healthy subjects ranging from 18-35 years of age and screening them for a patent foramen ovale (PFO) by agitated saline echocardiography. Those with a confirmed PFO will be invited to return for a second visit. At the second visit each subject will be imaged by 4D MRI while experiencing four different types of breathing conditions. Image reconstruction will hopefully result in flow-patterns that characterize PFO recruitment throughout the respiratory cycle. More globally this data may be able to aid in the decision of recommending PFO closure in patients at risk for decompression illness or any type of embolus or clot formation who also have the added risk for exposure to increased respiratory resistance.
Flow Pattern Imaging of the Impact of Resistance to Breathing on Foramen Ovale Patency
This project was funded by: Eldridge Research and Development
The term of this project was: July 2016 to June 2017
The number of subjects scanned during this project was: 20