Adult film performer Misha Montana suffered an ischaemic stroke while having sex in 2021, leading doctors to discover a previously undiagnosed heart defect. She later said tests identified a patent foramen ovale (PFO), an opening between the heart's upper chambers.

Montana, who was 31 at the time, discussed the incident in a January 2023 episode of the Sickboy podcast, titled I Had A Stroke While Having Sex.

Stroke Symptoms Initially Went Unrecognised

Montana said the episode happened on 14 April 2021, at about nine o'clock in the evening, while she was staying in Susanville, California, around two and a half hours from her home in Reno. She recalled losing control of her right arm and hand, with numbness affecting her face and speech.

Initially, she thought the symptoms might be an allergic reaction or something she had eaten. She went to sleep rather than seeking medical attention, despite the person with her suggesting hospital. When the symptoms remained the next morning and her hand began tightening and throbbing, she drove herself to a hospital in Reno.

She was admitted for almost a week for scans and tests, but initially struggled to accept that she could have had a stroke. She was travelling without her son, who was staying with her parents. She later discussed the experience on another stroke recovery podcast.

Doctors Discovered a Patent Foramen Ovale

Investigations identified a patent foramen ovale, commonly known as a PFO. Montana said doctors initially considered whether the episode was related to Covid. She told the Recovery After Stroke podcast that she had received her second Pfizer Covid vaccine dose seven days before the stroke.

Montana said doctors initially considered whether the stroke was related to COVID-19. She also revealed that she had received her second Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine dose seven days before the incident and had contracted COVID-19 shortly beforehand.

She also explained that doctors discovered a previously undiagnosed PFO, which could have allowed a blood clot to pass from the right atrium to the left atrium, bypass the lungs and travel towards her brain. However, neither the vaccine nor the infection was established as the definitive cause of the stroke.

The American Heart Association explains that the opening exists before birth and usually closes during the first few months after birth. It remains open in approximately one in four people.

Montana said a neurologist recognised signs consistent with the defect. Around a month after leaving hospital, she underwent a procedure to close the opening in her heart. Her account does not establish that the vaccine caused the clot; she described it as a theory raised during medical discussions, not a confirmed explanation.

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Recovery Left Lasting Effects

Montana later said she had regained about 90 per cent of her physical function, with movement returning to her face, arm and hand and most of her speech recovering. However, she described continuing effects including aphasia, memory problems, anxiety and depression. She said these less visible difficulties could be more challenging than the physical symptoms.

In June 2021, Alt Erotic announced her return to performing, saying her first on-screen appearance after the stroke would include a heart monitor. She later spoke publicly about the experience, describing the stroke as a major turning point in her personal and professional life.

Her account highlights how a PFO can remain undetected until a serious event prompts medical investigation. The American Heart Association says most people with the condition do not know they have it, and a PFO alone does not mean a person will have a stroke.

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