My 40-yr-old son recently had a relatively minor stroke and they discovered he has a hole in his heart. All of his other signs show an extremely healthy person. I was told by the cardiologist that there were no studies that showed repairing it resulted in fewer future strokes, but we want to have it anyway. How serious is the operation? I want to know if I should fly to Anchorage to be there in worst case scenario. I know they go through the femoral artery, but how often does that create/release blood clots and result in fatalities? Am I paranoid?