Both neurological paroxysmal disorders and patent foramen ovale (PFO) are characterized by episodic nature, and at present, the relationship between neurological paroxysmal disorders and PFO is not clear.

To investigate the possible relationship between neurological paroxysmal disorders and PFO.

A cross-sectional study method was used. Transthoracic cardiac ultrasound was performed on all patients with neurological paroxysmal disorders from the Third Xiangya Hospital of Central South University, who were classified into groups as migraine (n=266) , epilepsy (n=286) , syncope (n=187) , vertigo (n=68) , transient ischemic attack (TIA) (n=48) , according to the main clinical diagnosis. The PFO positive rate at different ages within and between groups was compared with the overall PFO positive rate of the population.

Transthoracic cardiac ultrasound was completed in a total of 1 030 patients, and a total of 390 patients were PFO with a positive rate of 37.9%. According to RLS grade of 340 PFO positive patients in different groups, 109 cases were RLS 1 grade, accounting for 32.1%; 148 cases were RLS 2 grade, accounting for 43.5%; 83 cases were RLS 3 grade, accounting for 24.4%. There was no significantly difference in RLS grades in different groups (P>0.05) . The PFO positive rates in the migraine, epilepsy, syncope, vertigo and TIA group were 46.2%, 40.6%, 35.8%, 33.8%, 22.9%, respectively. The PFO positive rate of the migraine, epilepsy, and syncope group was higher than the overall PFO positive rate of the population, respectively (P<0.05) ; in the migraine, epilepsy, syncope and vertigo group, the PFO positive rate over 11 years, 21 years and 31 years was higher than the overall PFO positive rate in the population, respectively (P<0.05) .

There might be a clinical association between PFO and migraine, epilepsy and syncope. It may be more meaningful to screen PFO in younger patients, but the mechanism of which needs to be further investigated.