Why the study?
PFO closure is recommended for patients younger than 60 years with ESUS or cryptogenic stroke, but its role in patients older than 60 years remains unclear.
Does patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure reduce recurrent ischemic stroke in patients older than 60 years with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) or cryptogenic stroke?
Population
Patients older than 60 years with ESUS or cryptogenic stroke from several large tertiary hospitals
Comparison
PFO closure vs age-matched control cohort
Design
Multicenter cohort study
Follow-up
Median 5 years
Key result
In patients older than 60, PFO closure showed a lower incidence of recurrent ischemic stroke (3.9%) compared to controls (8.2%) after 5 years, with 1% complication rate.
Authors
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PFO closure may be safe in select patients over 60; leaves open efficacy for recurrent stroke prevention pending randomized trials.
Does patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure reduce recurrent ischemic stroke in patients older than 60 years with embolic stroke of undetermined source (ESUS) or cryptogenic stroke?
In patients over 60 with cryptogenic stroke or ESUS, PFO closure is safe and demonstrates a non-significant trend toward reducing recurrent ischemic stroke compared to age-matched controls.
Aissa et al. (2026) studied this question. In patients older than 60, PFO closure showed a lower incidence of recurrent ischemic stroke (3.9%) compared to controls (8.2%) after 5 years, with 1% complication rate.