One theory on why cryptogenic strokes occur in younger people in their 40s and 50s is that the flap known as a patentforamen ovale, or PFO can allow blood clots to reach the brain, physicians say.
Some of them may interpret the data as supporting closure of a patentforamen ovale as a viable therapeutic option, even while conceding the failure of trials to show the superiority of closure over medical therapy.
The PC T rial (Clinical Trial Comparing Percutaneous Closure of PatentForamen Ovale Using the Amplatzer PFO Occluder with Medical Treatment in Patients with Cryptogenic Embolism) randomized 414 patients with PFO who had had an ischemic stroke, TIA, or a peripheral thromboembolic event to either medical therapy or PFO closure with the Amplatzer PFO Occluder.