However, in a subsequent analysis, where clinical investigators excluded three patients selected for the device group because they had a stroke before the device was implanted, the results were statistically significant.

WSJ: Doctors Debate Whether Strokes Be Prevented With a Heart-Plug Procedure

Depression is common after a heart attack or stroke, and previous research has indicated that depression more than triples the risk of dying within the subsequent six months after a heart attack.

BBC: Hardened arteries 'cause depression'