SynthesisNeuroepidemiology2013
Patent foramen ovale, ischemic stroke and migraine: systematic review and stratified meta-analysis of association studies.
Synthesis in Neuroepidemiology, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
21 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 72 citations in OpenAlex.
- Closure versus medical therapy for preventing recurrent stroke in patients with patent foramen ovale and a history of cryptogenic stroke or transient ischemic attack.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2015Pooled it
- Guideline
- Safety and efficacy of Cardi-O-fix occluder for percutaneous closure of a patent foramen ovale: A single-center prospective study.Medicine · 2017Trial
- Migraine and Cardiovascular Risk: A Scoping Review of Vascular Outcomes, Risk Assessment, and Endothelial Dysfunction.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Migraine and patent foramen ovale: correlation, coexistence, dependence. A narrative review.Headache · 2026Review
- New-onset headache after transcatheter atrial septal defect closure: a systematic review.Indian journal of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery · 2025Review
- Migraine and stroke: correlation, coexistence, dependence - a modern perspective.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Consensus Document of the Italian Association of Hospital Cardiologists (ANMCO), Italian Society of Pediatric Cardiology (SICP), and Italian Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetrics (SIGO): pregnancy and congenital heart diseases.European heart journal supplements : journal of the European Society of Cardiology · 2017Article
- Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale: A Single Center Experience.Open access Macedonian journal of medical sciences · 2016Article
- Stroke and migraine is there a possible comorbidity?Italian journal of pediatrics · 2016Review
- Ischemic stroke in the young: Current perspectives on incidence, risk factors, and cardiovascular prognosis.European stroke journal · 2016Review
- Embolic Strokes of Unknown Source and Cryptogenic Stroke: Implications in Clinical Practice.Frontiers in neurology · 2016Review
- Our evolving understanding of migraine with aura.Current pain and headache reports · 2014Review
- Migraine and the risk for stroke and cardiovascular disease.Current cardiology reports · 2014Review
- Prevalence of patent foramen ovale in ischemic stroke in Italy: the SISIFO study.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2014Article
- Ischaemic stroke in young adults: risk factors and long-term consequences.Nature reviews. Neurology · 2014Review
- Migraine and patent foramen ovale.Current neurology and neuroscience reports · 2014Review
- Migraine and stroke: "vascular" comorbidity.Frontiers in neurology · 2014Review
- Silent cerebral infarcts associated with cardiac disease and procedures.Nature reviews. Cardiology · 2013Review
- Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundObservational data have reported associations between patent foramen ovale (PFO), cryptogenic stroke and migraine. However, randomized trials of PFO closure do not demonstrate a clear benefit either because the underlying association is weaker than previously suggested or because the trials were underpowered. In order to resolve the apparent discrepancy between observational data and randomized trials, we investigated associations between (1) migraine and ischemic stroke, (2) PFO and ischemic stroke, and (3) PFO and migraine.
methodsEligibility criteria were consistent; including all studies with specifically defined exposures and outcomes unrestricted by language. We focused on studies at lowest risk of bias by stratifying analyses based on methodological design and quantified associations using fixed-effects meta-analysis models.
resultsWe included 37 studies of 7,686 identified. Compared to reports in the literature as a whole, studies with population-based comparators showed weaker associations between migraine with aura and cryptogenic ischemic stroke in younger women (OR 1.4; 95% CI 0.9-2.0; 1 study), PFO and ischemic stroke (HR 1.6; 95 CI 1.0-2.5; 2 studies; OR 1.3; 95% CI 0.9-1.9; 3 studies), or PFO and migraine (OR 1.0; 95% CI 0.6-1.6; 1 study). It was not possible to look for interactions or effect modifiers. These results are limited by sources of bias within individual studies.
conclusionsThe overall pairwise associations between PFO, cryptogenic ischemic stroke and migraine do not strongly suggest a causal role for PFO. Ongoing randomized trials of PFO closure may need larger numbers of participants to detect an overall beneficial effect.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.