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        New Message Board Archives >> 2004 Cluster Headache Specific Posts >> PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
        
(Message started by: pokemom on Nov 2^nd, 2004, 9:57am)

Title: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by pokemom on Nov 2^nd, 2004, 9:57am

HAVE WE READ ABOUT THIS YET. ITS SOMETHING WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT I THINK. I COULD NOT REMEMBER IF SOMEONE HAD BROUGHT THIS TO OUR ATTENTION OR NOT. FYI
LOVE POKE`MOM ::)

Oct 25 (Reuters Health) - New research suggests that
cluster headache, a severe type of headache that usually begins around one eye, often occurs together with a heart defect called patent foramen ovale (PFO), in which blood can pass through a small hole from the right to the left side of the heart without going through the lungs first.
In the fetus, the hole (foramen ovale) is open, since blood does not need pass through the lungs to pick up oxygen while the baby is in the womb. After birth, the hole normally closes, but quite often this closure is incomplete. Since it is a small defect, people are often unaware that they have an open (patent) foramen ovale.
As reported in the medical journal Neurology, Dr. Cinzia Finocchi and colleagues, from the University of Genoa in Italy, used ultrasound to look for PFO in 40 people with cluster headache and 40 similar subjects without such headaches.
There was evidence of PFO in 17 patients with cluster headache compared with just 7 headache-free subjects. Having a cluster headache more than tripled the odds of having a PFO.

So, why do the two conditions often occur together? The reason is unclear, but it may relate to lower oxygen levels in the blood. With PFO, blood that bypasses lungs carries less oxygen than normal, and previous reports have suggested that poorly oxygenated blood may help induce cluster headaches.

Further studies are needed to better understand the association between cluster headache and PFO, the investigators conclude.

SOURCE: Neurology, October 12, 2004.

Publish Date: October 25, 2004

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by Redrum on Nov 2^nd, 2004, 4:35pm

I think this was posted in another thread a few days ago. Thanks though, can't have too much info.

PFDAN ~Andy

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by BobG on Nov 2^nd, 2004, 9:35pm

Our webmaster DJ posted the article last week.
But thanks pokemom for helping out here.

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by pokemom on Nov 3^rd, 2004, 11:42am

GUESS I HAVE CH'S, MS AND CRS(CANT REMEMBER SHIT)

LOTS OF LOVE AND PAIN FREE DAY'S

POKE` ::)

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by sailpappy on Nov 13^th, 2004, 1:55pm

;;DTalked with my Neurologist about this article, he suggest that anyone that suspects they might have this condition simply have an echo-cardiogram/bubble test.
Also, I didn't see in the article that Indicin will correct this condition, even though they aren't sure what the mechanism of the Medication that causes the hole to seal itself is, they do know that in %99 of the cases treated a complete correction occurs! Pappy

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by floridian on Nov 14^th, 2004, 9:11am

Here's a theory : it isn't the PFO injury itself that directly contributes to cluster headaches, it the microemboli (little blood clots) that are associated with having a PFO. Those lead to impaired microcirculation and localized oxygen deficits in the brain.

* People who get migraine are at increased risk of stroke.
* There is an association between PFO and strokes (second abstract)
* DJ's clusters stopped when he had surgery for moyamoya disease (reduction in blood flow to brain, increase in TIAs/ministrokes).
* A kiwi here had deep vein thrombrosis and blood clots, but his clusters were less frequent when he was on blood thinners.
* Not an expert on PFO, but if it is autoimmune (see first abstract below) then anything that supresses the immune system (corticosteroids, lithium, indomethacin, etc) could help with PFO. If these drugs only supress coagulation, that could be part of how they prevent, but the heart wouldn't improve.

Quote:

Riv Eur Sci Med Farmacol. 1989 Aug;11(4):301-5.

[Aspects of organ-specific autoimmunity in cluster headache]

[Article in Italian]
Giacovazzo M, Di Sabato F, Ruggieri L, Martelletti P.

Fourty-eight cluster headache patients have been studied. Twenty-nine of them were affected also by rhythm cardiac abnormalities, and the other 19 by associated conjunctival hyperaemia. The presence of organ-specific autoantibodies was investigated by immunofluorescence. High titers of antibodies against cardiac antigenic determinants was found. The study of leukocyte subpopulations revealed a parallel increase in blood and in conjunctival mucosa of Leu7+ and LeuM3+ cells. These outcomes confirm the immunopathological theory of cluster headache.

Quote:

Intern Med J. 2001 Jan-Feb;31(1):42-7.

Patent foramen ovale and cryptogenic cerebral infarction.

McGaw D, Harper R.

Department of Medicine, Monash University and Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. David.McGaw@med.monash.edu.au

The patent foramen ovale (PFO) has been increasingly implicated in the aetiology of stroke, particularly in young patients with no other identifiable cause (cryptogenic stroke). The mechanism is by the passage of venous clots through the patent foramen into the arterial circulation, enabling cerebral embolism. Such patients with cryptogenic stroke and PFO are often treated with life-long anticoagulants or antiplatelet agents in an attempt to decrease the risk of a recurrence. Less commonly, surgical closure of the PFO has been undertaken in these patients. However, the recent evolution of closure devices that are delivered percutaneously by standard cardiac catheter techniques now offer an alternative non-surgical option. These alternative therapies are yet to be compared adequately. Two issues remain to be resolved. First, in determining appropriate therapy, patients with cryptogenic stroke may be divided into three groups: those with no PFO but an alternative unrecognized aetiology, those with an 'innocent' PFO and an alternative unrecognized aetiology and those with a causative PFO. The distinction between these groups clearly has important treatment implications. Second, the risk versus benefit of each available treatment modality must be determined for these different patient subgroups. These two issues require resolution before rational evidence-based treatment can be prescribed for patients with PFO and cryptogenic stroke.

Title: Re: PFO AND CLUSTER HEADACHES
Post by sailpappy on Nov 14^th, 2004, 10:26am

;;DActually my Neuro told me that Idicin will cause the opening to close itself during the treatment and thus repair the problem. He seems to be very intelligent and knows what he tell me ? So you might rethink that statement about it not solving the problem?? IMHO
Pappy