BACKGROUND: Severe migraine headaches can make life miserable for anyone. For many of the 28 million Americans suffering from migraines, the pain can be unbearable. Symptoms include severe pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light, sound and touch. For some, a migraine can be accompanied by an "aura," or the perception of flashing lights, vision loss, and other temporary neurological changes.
HOLE IN THE HEART: The foramen ovale is a small hole located in the atrial septum that is used during fetal circulation to speed up the travel of blood through the heart. Normally the foramen ovale closes at birth when increased blood pressure on the left side of the heart forces the opening to close. If the atrial septum does not close properly, it is called a patent foramen ovale. This type of defect generally works like a flap valve, only opening during certain conditions when there is more pressure inside the chest. If doctors suspect the defect could cause potentially deadly health problems -- such as stroke -- they may decide to surgically close the hole. One way to do that is with a tiny device that is inserted into the heart with a special catheter, which is then inserted into a vein in the leg (or sometimes neck) and advanced into the heart and through the hole. The device is slowly pushed out of the special catheter. It flattens out on either side of the hole (like a sandwich) and closes it. Over time, heart tissue grows over the implant, becoming part of the heart.
THE MIGRAINE CONNECTION: New research suggests that defect could be behind some severe migraine headaches. Several researchers have noticed a link between people with the defect and those who suffer migraines with auras. Mark Reisman, M.D., director of cardiovascular research at the Swedish Heart Institute in Seattle, is looking into the link. He and his colleagues recently published a study in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. In the study, they reviewed 162 patients who underwent a transcatheter procedure to close an intra-atrial opening because they had suffered a stroke or transient ischemic attack. Of the 162 patients studied, 57 (35 percent) reported suffering migraines before undergoing the procedure. A year after the procedure, the researchers contacted 50 of the migraine suffers. More than half (28 of 50) said their migraines were gone, and another seven patients said the frequency of migraine attacks had dropped by more than 50 percent. In the same journal, researchers from the University of California in Los Angeles conducted a similar analysis. They studied 89 patients. Nearly half the patients (37 of 89) reported suffering migraine headaches before the procedure. Three months after the procedure, three-quarters of the migraine sufferers (28 of 37) reported their migraines were gone or had significantly improved.
