Meta-analysis of Net Long-term Benefit of Different Therapeutic Strategies in Patients with Cryptogenic Stroke and Patent Foramen Ovale

We pooled available data on follow-up events in patients with patent foramen ovale and cryptogenic stroke to evaluate the net clinical benefit of different therapeutic strategies (percutaneous closure vs antiplatelet vs anticoagulant therapy). MEDLINE/Pubmed and Cochrane databases and reviewed cited references to identify relevant studies were used; 3,311 patients from 21 clinical studies, both observational and randomized, with follow-up ≥12 months were overall included. Net clinical benefit was evaluated considering the cumulative incidence of both stroke/transient ischemic attack and major bleeding events.
Source: The American Journal of Cardiology - Category: Cardiology Authors: Source Type: research