Objective: To investigate the influence of patent foramen ovale (PFO) on the clinical features of migraine without aura (MoA).
Methods: We consecutively enrolled 390 MoA patients and compared the frequency of headache, episode duration, and the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), Headache Impact Test 6 (HIT-6), and European Health Interview Survey-Quality of Life 8-item index (EUROHIS-QOL8) scores of patients with and without PFO, those with the mild right-to-left shunt (RLS) and moderate to large RLS, and those with permanent RLS and latent RLS using a nonparametric Mann–Whitney U -test. In addition, we analyzed the clinical features of migraine in 39 MoA patients before and after PFO closure treatment using the paired Wilcoxon test.
Results: The prevalence of PFO in the 390 MoA patients was 44.4%. Patients with PFO had significantly higher frequency of headaches, VAS scores, HIT-6 scores, and incidence of white matter lesions than those without PFO (all p < 0.05). Patients with moderate to large RLS had significantly higher VAS scores than those with mild RLS (p = 0.002). Additionally, 39 MoA patients underwent PFO closure, which remarkably decreased their frequency of headache, episode duration, VAS scores, and HIT-6 scores, and increased their EUROHIS-QOL8 scores.
Conclusion: The migraine features in MoA patients could be influenced by PFO, especially in patients with moderate to large shunt, in whom PFO closure improved the symptoms.
Keywords: migraine without aura, patent foramen ovale, clinical features, closure treatment