The value of right heart contrast echocardiography combined with migraine rating scale in evaluating the efficacy of patent foramen ovale closure

Abstract

Objectives To investigate the clinical values of right heart contrast transthoracic echocardiography (cTTE) combined with migraine rating scale in evaluating the efficacy of patent foramen ovale (PFO) closure. Methods From January 2018 to December 2021, a total of 68 hospitalized patients, 21 males and 47 females, who were treated with transcatheter closure of PFO-induced migraine in the Heart Center of the First Affiliated Hospital of Tsinghua University were selected, with the age of 38.4 ± 11.9 years old. The changes of right heart contrast transthoracic echocardiography (cTTE), visual analogue pain score(VAS), headache impact test-6(HIT-6) and migraine disability assessment questionnaire(MIDAS) before and 6 months after PFO occlusion were compared. Results Pre-operative cTTE data show that 36 patients (52.9%) had moderate right-to-left shunt (RLS), and 32 patients (47.1%) had massive RLS. cTTE was reexamined 6 months after operation and 1 case in the moderate RLS group had minimal RLS, 2 cases in the large RLS group had minimal RLS, and no shunts were seen for the rest. The VAS, HIT-6 and MIDAS scores before and 6 months after the operation were 7.65 ± 1.39 vs. 1.28 ± 1.53, 70.78 ± 6.82 vs. 41.53 ± 6.07, and 30.60 ± 13.24 vs. 1.93 ± 3.87, respectively. All the indexes 6 months after the operation significantly improved compared with the preoperative baseline (P < 0.05). Conclusions cTTE combined with migraine evaluation scale could be used as an objective index to evaluate the clinical effect of PFO occlusion.