Article ID | Journal | Published Year | Pages | File Type |
---|---|---|---|---|
2762944 | Journal of Clinical Anesthesia | 2010 | 4 Pages |
Abstract
An obese patient with cholelithiasis and acute cholecystitis was scheduled for an emergency laparoscopic cholecystectomy. On preoperative workup, a 5-year-old echocardiogram showed a large patent foramen ovale (PFO) with a right-to-left shunt that was open at rest. Noting both the benefits of laparoscopic surgery and the substantial incidence of PFO in the general population (10% to 30%), the attending and consulting surgeons reasoned that the benefits of laparoscopy greatly exceeded an immeasurably small risk of paradoxical emboli.
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Authors
Mark S. Thoma, John Maa, Nelson B. Schiller, Lawrence Litt,