Cerebral infarction and ventricular septal defect.

With the availability of contrast echocardiography, patent foramen ovale is frequently detected in patients with stroke, especially in those with no clear etiology and/or the young patient with stroke. Before this report, an association of stroke with ventricular septal defect had not been reported. In this communication, we describe a 38-year-old patient who developed an occipital lobe infarction and who, on investigation, was found to have a ventricular septal defect. Other investigations, which included four-vessel cerebral angiography, collagen disease workup, and coagulation profile, were all normal. We believe this case further extends the spectrum of cerebral ischemic events that may occur with intracardiac shunts.