Does Patent Foramen Ovale Size Matter in Men and Women

Completed

Conditions studied: Patent Foramen Ovale

In brief

A patent foramen ovale (PFO) is present in \~30% of the general population. The PFO has historically been considered to be trivial. However, recent work by the investigator's group and others has identified that, compared to individuals without a PFO, those with a PFO have worse pulmonary gas exchange efficiency, have a higher core body temperature, blunted ventilatory responses to chronic hypoxia and acute carbon dioxide and increased susceptibility to altitude illnesses such as acute mountain sickness, and high altitude pulmonary edema (Lovering, Elliott \& Davis J Appl Physiol 2016). Specific to this application,subjects with a PFO may have worse pulmonary gas exchange efficiency because a PFO is a potential source of right-to-left shunt that will make pulmonary gas exchange efficiency worse. If true, then this may negatively impact exercise capacity and/or exercise tolerance. Further, in those with a PFO compared to those without, preliminary work from the investigator's lab indicates that there may be an effect of PFO size on pulmonary gas exchange efficiency. This is such that those with a large PFO (grade 3 or higher) display significantly worse gas exchange efficiency compared to those with a small (grade 2 or lower) or no PFO,even at low exercise workloads. Additionally, the investigators were curious as to whether there would be a sex effect, but due to logistical constraints, the investigators were unable to recruit an equal number of female and male subjects. Thus, in addition to the potential size effect on the investigators outcome measures, the investigators would like to build on this work by examining the potential effect of biological sex. Although a PFO has been traditionally considered to have a minimal impact of physiology and pathophysiology, emerging evidence suggests this may not be the case. The investigator's lab is focused on understanding how and why a relatively small hole in the heart (PFO) can have a relatively large impact on cardiopulmonary and respiratory physiology, and how these impacts may be based on the size of the PFO.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT03904277

Run by

University of Oregon

People needed

28

Starts

2018-10-01

Expected to finish

2023-01-25

Last updated by the study team

2023-02-01

Who can join

Age: 18 and older, up to 40. Sex: any. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Men and women aged 18-40
• Known to have/not have a PFO.

You may not qualify if…

• Previous history of coronary artery disease(ischemic heart disease such as angina, heart attack, myocardial infarction).
• Failure of Modified Allen's Test in both hands.
• Currently taking medications or herbal supplements for any heart or respiratory disease that they cannot stop taking for 48 hrsprior to testing (seasonal allergy medication not included in exclusion medications).
• Lidocaine, nitroglycerine or heparin allergy.
• Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant.
• Previous history of any condition that would prevent the subject from performing cycle ergometer exercise (for exercise study only).

Where it is running

• Cardiorespiratory and Pulmonary Physiology Lab — Eugene, Oregon, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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