PFO-Patient’s Perspective

Abstract

For patients newly diagnosed with patent foramen ovale (PFO), it is often an abrupt transition from the world of the healthy to that of the sick, which can be likened to diving into icy waters. Younger patients may be in a phase of life where attending one medical appointment a year with a primary care physician (PCP) for an annual exam is commonplace, they may have little to no experience in managing ongoing or complex health conditions when struck by a neurologic event that turns their lives upside down, and sends them on a quest for answers and care. National Health Council (NHC) defines a consumer as a generally healthy individual who moves in and out of the health care system as his or her needs change over time. Respectively, NHC defines a patient as someone who is dependent on or uses the health care system for the rest of his or her life after diagnosis.