Paradoxical Air Microembolism Induces Cerebral Bioelectrical Abnormalities and Occasionally Headache in Patent Foramen Ovale Patients With Migraine

Abstract

These findings demonstrate that air microembolism through large PFOs may cause cerebral bioelectrical disturbances and, occasionally, headache in MA patients, which may reflect an increased reactivity of their brain to transient subclinical hypoxia-ischemia, and suggest that paradoxical embolism is not a common cause of migraine but may induce headache in the presence of a large PFO and facilitating conditions.