Closure of hole in the heart reduces stroke recurrence

A still from the video of my PFO being closed.
Click here to view the video.

If you've read this blog before, you might know that my hole-in-the-heart was closed 10 years ago. Click here to read details.

The hole is called a patent foramen ovale, or PFO. It's an opening between the upper chambers of the heart. We're all born with one, but it's normally closed shortly after birth. For some, though, it remains. For some people, blood clots can pass from one side to the other, getting pumped out to the arteries and eventually in the brain, causing a stroke.

So closing the hole, the idea is, would remove that stroke risk. But there's been debate over whether the procedure would really reduce the patient's stroke risk. But recent news shows that PFO closure reduces stroke recurrence:

After years of debate, results of three studies confirm the benefit of closing a patent foramen ovale (PFO) in selected stroke patients in order to prevent recurrent events.

All three multicenter studies showed that the procedure significantly decreased the rate of recurrent ischemic stroke compared with medical therapy in relatively young patients who had experienced a cryptogenic stroke and had a PFO.

"This new wave of results is a breakthrough in settling that key question of whether the device closure is helpful for cryptogenic stroke," Jeffrey L. Saver, MD, senior advisory vice chair and professor of neurology, and director, stroke unit, University of California at Los Angeles, told Medscape Medical News. Dr Saver led one of the studies, a long-term follow-up of the previously reported RESPECT trial.

If you've been told you have a PFO that caused your stroke, perhaps it's time to recheck with your doctor.