Diagnosis: right to left shunt now what? i've been experiencing headaches and memory loss, my np referred me to a neurologist. results from testing were sent to np. i just left her office with a follow up to see neurologist again but the diagnosis is rig

The : The heart has two "sides": the right side pumps blood to the lungs for oxygenation and the left side pumps it to the body. A right to left shunt is one that sends blood directly from the right side to the left, bypassing the lungs. This is important fro two reasons: 1) the shunted blood does not have the opportunity to drop off carbon dioxide and pick up oxygen. If the shunt is large, it will reduce the amount of oxygen in your blood and leave you easily winded. 2) the lung, in addition to increasing the oxygen level in the blood, filters out any tiny clots or other particles in the blood. When that filter is missing, there's an increased risk of strokes. Since you have a right to left shunt, you should probably be on a blood thinner, and you should make sure that any IV lines you have placed are freed of all bubbles (the common idea that a few bubbles in a vein will cause damage is not true--unless you have a right to left shunt. Treatment depends on the size of the shunt and its location. If it's very small, you may need nothing. However, if it's big enough to create problems (and it sounds like yours is) then it probably needs to be closed. If it's in the heart, this is done by a cardiologist using a percutaneous closure device or by a cardiac surgeon using traditional open-heart surgery. If it is in the arteries of the lung, it is treated by an interventional radiologist using small artery-blocking coils placed via a puncture in the hip area or the neck. I don't know the joliet area well enough to know who's close by, but you can go to http://doctor-finder.Sirweb.Org/ to find an interventional radiologist in your area. One other thing: shunts in the lung arteries are associated with a condition called osler-weber-rendu syndrome (also know as hereditary hemorrhagic telangietasia). You should be evaluated for this condition and, if you have it, your relatives should be evaluated too. It has a strong family inheritance pattern.

Leak?: You could have a leak from the shunt which leads to fluid accumulation. This leads to a build up of pressure which may be contributing to your symptoms.