Media Coverage : Articles

Hole-in-the-Heart Self Repair Kit

August 12, 2007

Experts have found a way to employ the body’s natural healing power to treat a common heart defect linked with stroke and migraine.

One in four people has a valve-like hole in the heart, known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO).

The defect can be closed surgically using a graft, but this can cause damage to surrounding tissue.

A team at London’s Royal Brompton Hospital has used a “bioabsorbable” patch to solve the problem.

The patch acts as a temporary plug until the body replaces it with healthy normal tissue, usually within 30 days.

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