My stroke was an "unknown" - unexplained at the time. It was later explained as a hole between the two upper chambers of my heart, also known as a patent foramen ovale. Click here to read more about PFO, strokes and heart repair.
Recently, experts had an interesting discussion about finding out the causes of unexplained - or cryptogenic - strokes.
So check out excerpt and read the entire article about getting at the unknown unknowns:
Physicians trying to figure out the cause of an unexplained stroke need to take a lesson from former Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, according to Mitchell Elkind, MD.
In particular, Rumsfeld's reference to "unknown unknowns" -- things we don't know that we don't know -- is a useful idea, said Elkind, professor of neurology and epidemiology at Columbia University in New York City, at a meeting here last week on cryptogenic stroke sponsored by Medtronic, the American Heart Association, and the American Stroke Association.
"In many cases, we just may not have looked for those things that could have caused the stroke," he said.
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