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Topic: Has anyone heard of this? PFO? (Read 394 times) |
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jennybaby
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Has anyone heard of this? PFO?
« on: Dec 7th, 2006, 1:46am » |
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denver & the west
Heart "flap" may be root of migraines
By Karen Augé
Denver Post Staff Writer
Article Last Updated:11/28/2006 10:47:31 PM MST
Few, if any, of the millions of people who endure the blinding pain, nausea and blurred vision of migraines probably ever figured the problem was actually in their hearts.
It never occurred to doctors, either.
But a few years ago, patients who had a common heart defect fixed began reporting that their migraines had gone away.
The reports became more and more frequent, and now doctors in Colorado and across the country are investigating a possibility they say caught them by surprise: that a heart defect can cause migraines.
The defect, a flap-like opening in the wall of the heart, is called a patent foramen ovale, or PFO.
Usually, the flap closes at birth, but in 20 to 25 percent of the population it stays open, said Dr. John Carroll, chief of cardiology at University of Colorado Hospital.
Carroll and neurologist Jack Klapper of Mile High Research Center in Denver are part of a nationwide study - which eventually will include 44 sites across the country - testing whether closing that hole in the heart can relieve migraine suffering.
The idea surprised both cardiologists and those who treat migraines, said Klapper, who specializes in headache treatment.
"I don't think anybody would have anticipated this," Klapper said.
Until about 10 years ago, most doctors considered PFO nonthreatening, Carroll said. Now, it is associated with a list of problems, chiefly decompression sickness in divers and stroke in young adults who aren't at obvious risk for stroke, Carroll said.
It was efforts to prevent and treat such problems that led to the suspicion that PFOs play a role in migraines.
After procedures to close PFOs, patients came back and said, "'Hey, doc, ever since you fixed that hole in my heart, I haven't had a migraine,"' Klapper said.
"Eventually, we saw half a dozen or more reports in literature, and people started to wonder if there was a relationship," he said.
Earlier this year, a British study found that closing a PFO did not cure all patients' migraines. But it did significantly reduce migraines in 37 percent of those who had the procedure, compared with a reduction of migraines in 17 percent of patients who didn't get the procedure. In addition, of the migraine sufferers who applied to be part of the study, 60 percent were found to have the PFO, a rate three times that of the general population.
Although they occur frequently, PFOs are not readily diagnosed. They don't show up on X-rays, EKGs or echocardiograms, Carroll said.
They are usually diagnosed by a "bubble test," in which tiny saline bubbles are injected into the veins during an echocardiogram.
About 29.5 million Americans get migraines, according to the National Headache Foundation. They are characterized by the constriction, and then dilation, of blood vessels.
Often a migraine is preceded by visual disruptions called auras and also can include nausea and vomiting; light, sound and even touch can be painful.
Researchers don't know why, but the connection between PFO and migraines seems strongest in the roughly 20 percent or so of people who get auras.
The current study, called the ESCAPE Migraine Study, is looking for men and women whose frequent migraines don't respond well to treatment.
The study is funded by St. Jude Medical of St. Paul, Minn., which makes a device used to close PFOs.
The research, which has U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval, will be conducted as a so-called double-blind study.
Patients who participate won't know whether their PFO has been closed or whether their defect was left untreated.
Patients who have been accepted into the study will be taken to the cardiac-procedure room and given an anesthetic.
A mask and earphones are then put on the patient while the cardiologist opens an envelope that says either "device," or "no device," Carroll said.
"We either implant a device or we sit and twiddle our thumbs until the patient wakes up. And they don't even tell (hospital staff) in recovery what they have," he said.
The procedure isn't open- heart surgery - the device is inserted through a small incision. But like any medication or procedure, it has risks, Klapper said.
Still, there are people eager to participate, Carroll said.
"These are people who are suffering. And they're suffering despite all our current therapies, which are failing them," he said.
Treating migraines costs an estimated $13 billion to $17 billion annually in the United States, most of which is spent on medications, according to the American Journal of Managed Care.
That figure does not include productivity lost when employees can't work, the journal noted.
Staff writer Karen Augé can be reached at 303-954-1733 or kauge@denverpost.com.
Please let me know what you think....
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BB
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Re: Has anyone heard of this? PFO?
« Reply #1 on: Dec 7th, 2006, 2:54am » |
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This topic has been discussed here a few times in the past that I am aware of.
Most people here dont have a problem at all with their hearts and still have CH.
Its worth getting checked out in case you do have it but not having one doesnt mean that you dont have CH or migraine.
Annette
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kcopelin
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Re: Has anyone heard of this? PFO?
« Reply #2 on: Dec 7th, 2006, 9:44am » |
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There are also BAD headaches that are related to the heart. Interesting study, this. I have Mitral valve prolapse, which is not uncommon-and am on verapamil a cardiac medication. Perhaps our hearts and brains are connected in more ways that previously thought.
The search continues...thanks for joining in the quest.
PFDAN
kathy
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thebbz
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Re: Has anyone heard of this? PFO?
« Reply #3 on: Dec 7th, 2006, 10:16pm » |
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 Meeegrainers 
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