The occurrence of foramen ovale patens was investigated in four different meat-type pig breeds: Slovak White Improved (WI), Landrace (LA), Slovak meat-type (SM) and a crossbreed of Pietrain x Slovak meattype (PN x SM) at the Station for Research and Meat Quality Evaluation. The highest incidence of foramen ovale patens (FOP) cases was recorded in the SM breed (13.7 %) and the least in the LA breed (10.5 %). Two sizes of the openings were registered (2 and 3 mm diameter). Only the 2 mm size gap

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... as observed in the PN x SM crossbreed. This defect was observed in all siklines of Wi, all four lines of LA and all three lines of SM and PNxSM. No case of FOP was found in the Pietrain (PN breed). Only 2 mm size gaps were found in the crossbreed PN x SM. Therefore it is important to look for a rise of this heart defect in crossbreed lines of these two breeds.