What is the impermeable foramen ovale, which caused Hailey Bieber’s stroke?

She gives herself up with an open heart, she is now cured. In a video posted on her Youtube channel, Hailey Bieber returns for the first time to the mini-stroke she suffered last March and the cardiac intervention that followed.

A transient ischemic attack

The video, entitled “Telling my story”, “Raconter mon histoire” in French, sums up its content well. Hailey Bieber goes into detail about what happened to her. She explains that on this day, March 10, 2022, she was having breakfast with her husband, Justin Bieber, when she started having “a weird feeling that went from my shoulder to my fingertips”in his own words.

Unable to speak for a few moments

When Justin Bieber asked her if she was feeling well, she revealed that she was unable to answer him: “I wanted to answer I couldn’t speak anymore, the right side of my face started to sag and I couldn’t get a single word out of my mouth properly.” says Hailey Bieber, who adds that she and her husband were very scared. “We thought I was having a stroke, I was wondering if I was going to have lifelong scars, it was the scariest moment of my life.”.

The world learns the news on March 12, 2022 by the tabloid TMZ, as often when it comes to American stars. Urgently hospitalized although having recovered quickly, the diagnosis is then made: Hailey Bieber was the victim of a transient ischemic attack or AIT, a small reversible stroke.

A TIA caused by the patent foramen ovale or FOP

Once the diagnosis has been made, the young woman wants to understand the origin of this blood clot which caused her this vascular accident. Further examinations, including a transcranial Doppler and a transthoracic echocardiogram reveal that the young woman suffers from a patent foramen ovale, between the right and left atria of her heart, which allowed the passage of the blood clot to the brain. “They found out I had grade 5 PFO which is the highest grade, that’s why the clot escaped to my brain and I had a mini stroke.” expose the mannequin.

Surgical intervention necessary

Hailey Bieber was therefore forced to undergo surgery to close the foramen and make it waterproof. PFO is a birth defect that usually does not cause problems. On the other hand, after an ischemic episode as is the case here, the patient must be operated.

For it, “the doctor makes a puncture in the groin at the level of the femoral vein, and inserts a small tube, called a catheter, to go up along the blood vessels in order to reach the affected site in the heart” details the website of the Paris Sud Cardiovascular Institute. “If the cardiac catheterization shows that the patent foramen ovale is of a good size and that it is in an appropriate zone to be closed, the cardiologist introduces an umbrella which will remain permanently in place in the heart. He then removes the catheter or sheath and the procedure is over.”.

This intervention is not long, it lasts one hour and the patient can go home within 24 hours after monitoring by cardiac ultrasound. Once placed, the umbrella remains in place permanently and the patient must then take lifelong treatment.