Depending which article you read, the MIST trial‘s preliminary results are great news or a terrible disappointment. Specifically, if you read the article in a health section, the results are positive; in the business section, they’re negative.
Looking beyond the spin, here are some of the more concrete preliminary findings:
- 37% of the patients whose PFOs were closed reported a reduction in the number and duration of their migraines. (It’s important to note that their migraines didn’t disappear completely, but were eased.)
- 17% of the control group participants, who had “sham” surgery, reported similar relief.
- Data suggest that the number of patients who benefited grew over time.
If you’re looking for more balanced coverage than most stories give, the NY Times has good articles in both the health and business sections.
PFO closure was initially expected to protect against stroke and several medical device companies tried to captilize on this market. When trial results showed no benefit the device industry attempted to exploit another potentila market in order to recoup their losses by inventing a potential link between migraine and PFO. Again the trials have failed to show effectiveness. Don’t be fooled by these money grubbers trying to recoup capitsal losses.
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Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I still think the water is murky — I’m looking forward to reading results of new studies.
Kerrie