February 09, 2021
Patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure in conjunction with optimal medical therapy can reduce both the number of migraine days and the frequency of attacks compared with medicine alone, according to a new pooled analysis.
The findings are unlikely to have an effect on clinical practice, as regulatory bodies have not approved any PFO closure device for the treatment of migraine. However, the procedure is now an option for the prevention of PFO-associated stroke.
“What this [study] will do is increase people s interest and whet their appetite for the next clinical trial, but it s not going to have an immediate practical, clinical effect,” senior study author Jonathan Tobis, MD (University of California, Los Angeles), told TCTMD. “People aren t going to go out and start closing PFOs for migraine. I hope if anything it will stimulate interest in the patient population to participate in the RELIEF PFO trial [because] this shows the good justification for why PFO cl