| Having been through this, and all the wrong tests i hope this is of some help.
A PFO test can be one of several things. First off a normal echocardiogram will not show it. You need contrast ie bubbles to show if blood is passing from one side of the heart to the other. Putting bubbles into the blood is not without risk as they have the potential to travel to the brain, ripping your oesphagus etc etc. To view these bubbles you can have a transoesophageal echo, very very unpleasant (imagine swallowing a garden hose and feeling it move around in your food pipe for 30 minutes while you retch every 30 seconds). This test needs to be understood by the doctor doing it, otherwise it is a waste of time. The test which finally settled the score for me was not a TOE but an echo done by Pete Wilmshurst in Shrewsbury. This was done with contrast and was not as unpleasant as the TOE by a long way but still involved the risk with the bubbles migrating.
Private the test will set you back several hundred pounds in the UK, NHS waiting times vary, i waited 8 months.
If you have had any reason to think you have a PFO, or if the consultant really knows his shit, then go ahead.
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