Clinical relevance of atrial septal aneurysm and patent foramen ovale with migraine.

AIM

To test the potential association between atrial septal aneurysm (ASA) and migraine in patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure patients through an observational, single-center, case-controlled study.

METHODS

We studied a total of 450 migraineurs who had right-to-left shunts and underwent PFO closure in a retrospective single-center non-randomized registry from February 2012 to October 2016 on the condition that they were aged 18-45 years old. Migraine was diagnosed according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3 edition and evaluated using the Headache Impact Test-6 (HIT-6). All patients underwent preoperative transesophageal echocardiography, contrast transthoracic echocardiography, and computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging examinations, with subsequent fluoroscopy-guided PFO closure. Based on whether they have ASA or not, the patients were divided into two groups: A (PFO with ASA, = 80) and B (PFO without ASA, = 370). Baseline characteristics and procedural and follow-up data were reviewed.

RESULTS

Compared to group B, group A had an increased frequency of ischemic lesions (11.3% 6.2%, = 0.038) and migraine with aura (32.5% 21.1%, = 0.040). The PFO size was significantly larger in group A ( = 0.007). There was no significant difference in HIT-6 scores between the two groups before and at the one-year follow-up after the PFO closure [61 (9) 63 (9), = 0.227; 36 (13) 36 (10), = 0.706].

CONCLUSION

Despite its small sample size, our study suggests that the prevalence of ASA in PFO with migraine patients is associated with ischemic stroke, larger PFO size, and migraine with aura.