Cardiac Implants to Seal Patent Foramen Ovale
A couple of months ago, I wrote about the connection between patent foramen ovale (PFO) and migraines. PFO is a common defect of the heart (close to 20% of the population) where the opening between the two upper chambers don’t seal shut.
When blood returns to the heart, it’s supposed to go to the lungs to pick up more oxygen and be filtered clean. A PFO can allow some blood to seep back into circulation without that filtering step. The theory: That could allow small blood clots or other substances into the bloodstream, traveling straight to the brain.
Based on this theory, sealing PFO’s would make sense. The FDA had initially given special approval for the use of cardiac implants in stroke patients to prevent repeat strokes. But now that the implants are being used more often and for migraines as well (in clinical trials), the FDA wants to have tighter control and are asking implant makers to produce results as soon as possible.
Have you had your PFO closed? Share your story with us here in the comments or by email.
San Jose Mercury News, October 30, 2006
Technorati Tags: patent foramen ovale, pfo, migraines, strokes, heart, heart disease, diseases, health, fda
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POSTED IN: Hearty Healthcare
1 opinion for Cardiac Implants to Seal Patent Foramen Ovale
Shayne
Oct 8, 2008 at 10:51 pm
I have been just diagnosed with having a PFO at the age of 49. The diagnosis was done using Echocardiogram with bubbles. What lead to the test was that I had tiny spots on my MRI which motivated my Neurologist to do the bubble test.
What is the current state of the art with doing the cardiac implants? I’m interested in this procedure in getting things fixed…
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