Recruiting
Phase 3

PFO Closure with Prasugrel

Sponsor:

Columbia University

Code:

NCT07629635

Conditions

Migraine Disease

Patent Foramen Ovale

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 55

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Interventions

Prasugrel 5mg

Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale

Study Details

Brief summary:

Migraine is a common and often disabling condition, but its exact causes are not fully understood. Some people with migraines have a small opening in the heart wall called a patent foramen ovale (PFO). In some of these patients, closing this opening or taking a medication that inhibits blood platelets (prasugrel) has been shown to reduce migraines. However, not everyone benefits, and it is unclear why. This study is being done to better understand whether closing a PFO can provide lasting migraine relief - especially in patients whose migraines improve with prasugrel.

The goal of this study is to find out whether, in patients whose migraines improve while taking prasugrel, closing the PFO along with 24 weeks of prasugrel leads to better long-term migraine relief after stopping the medication, than by taking prasugrel for 24 weeks alone.

Participants will track their migraines daily using an electronic diary, then take prasugrel and compare their migraines while on the medication. Only patients whose migraines improve on this medication will continue in the study. Eligible participants will be randomly assigned (like flipping a coin) to one of two groups: 1) Medication-only group: Continue prasugrel for 24 weeks. 2) Procedure group: Undergo a minimally invasive procedure to close the PFO and continue prasugrel for 24 weeks. After treatment, the medication will be stopped in both groups, and participants will again track their migraines for about 8 weeks.

The main question is: Do patients who have PFO closure continue to have fewer migraines after stopping prasugrel compared with those who did not have the procedure?

Conditions

Migraine Disease

Patent Foramen Ovale

Study ID

NCT07629635

Start date

Oct 15, 2026

Status verified date

Oct, 2026

Completion date

Mar, 2028

Anticipated

Primary completion date

Dec 31, 2027

Anticipated

Eligibility Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

Sex: All

Age: 18 - 55

Healthy Volunteers: Not accepted

Patient Inclusion Criteria:

  • Age: ≥18 and <55 at time of screening
  • Migraine headache with aura, or migraine headache without aura, fulfilling conditions of the Neurology Screening Tool (meeting ICHD-3 criteria)
  • Diagnosis of migraine for ≥ 1 year; onset of migraine symptoms < 40 years of age
  • By history, an average headache burden of greater than one migraine headache day per week:
  • without current preventative therapy, OR
  • despite preventative therapy, OR
  • with reason to come off effective therapy (e.g. cost, aversion to injections, side effects)
  • If patient is taking preventive migraine medications, dose must be stable for at least 3 months prior to the screening visit. Patient agrees to continue preventive medication at the current dosage throughout the duration of the Baseline and On-treatment monitoring periods (Study Weeks 1 - 17).
  • Female patients capable of becoming pregnant agree to use two forms of birth control or abstinence during their participation in the study.

Patient Exclusion Criteria:

Exclusions due to underlying patient medical issues:

  • Headache disorder other than migraine with aura, or migraine without aura
  • Patient has history of stroke, TIA, or intracranial hemorrhage.
  • Patient has a history of thrombocytopenia within one year, or platelet count <100,000/mm3 identified during the screening laboratory evaluation.
  • Patient has severe hepatic impairment with reduced synthetic function as documented by prolongation of PT/PTT, or with total bilirubin >3.0 mg/dL identified during the screening laboratory evaluation.
  • Patient has previously implanted pacemaker, IVC filter, PFO closure device, ASD closure device, or left atrial appendage closure device or any cardiac history which, in the investigator's opinion, would preclude them from study participation.
  • Patient has documented right-to-left shunt source in addition to PFO such as atrial septal defect or pulmonary arteriovenous malformation.
  • Patient has a history of clinically significant bleeding within 6 months of the screening visit, any active bleeding, or active peptic ulcer disease.
  • Patient has an uncontrolled arrhythmia, or if on therapy, has evidence of arrhythmia control failure within the past 90 days (e.g., supraventricular tachycardia or atrial fibrillation while under rhythm control).
  • Patient has elevated PVR which in the opinion of the implanting physician precludes safe PFO closure.
  • Patient has active infection at the time of screening that cannot be treated.
  • Patient is planning surgery during the study timeframe.
  • A female patient is pregnant or is planning pregnancy during the anticipated duration of the study. Urine or blood pregnancy screening will be performed as part of the screening laboratory evaluation.
  • Patient has documented nickel allergy/sensitivity
  • Patient has a documented history of non-compliance with medical care, which would preclude them, in the opinion of the study team

Exclusion Due to Medication Restrictions:

  • Patient has known hypersensitivity or contraindication to thienopyridines
  • Patient has another medical condition requiring chronic antithrombotic therapy with antiplatelet, oral anticoagulant or injectable agents
  • Patient has need for daily use of NSAIDs other than for treatment of migraines

Study Design

Enrollment

32 participants

Anticipated

Allocation

Randomized

Intervention Model

Parallel Assignment

Primary purpose

Prevention

Interventions and Outcome Measures

Arms

active comparator: Group A - Thienopyridine only

16 patients will be randomized to this group. Thienopyridine medication (prasugrel) which was demonstrated to reduce headache frequency during study screening phases, will be continued for 6 months and then stopped. Post-therapy headache frequency will be compared with the patient's baseline headache frequency. After completion of the study procedures, patients in this group will be given the opportunity to get the PFO closure procedure.

active comparator: Group B - PFO closure plus thienopyridine

16 patients will be randomized to this group. After demonstrating thienopyridine (prasugrel) benefit for migraine symptoms in the screening phases of the study, patients in this arm will undergo PFO closure, a non-surgical outpatient catheter procedure. They will remain on prasugrel for an additional 6 months. The medication will then be stopped. Post-therapy headache frequency will be compared with the patient's baseline headache frequency.

Interventions

Prasugrel 5mg

Six months of daily prasugrel therapy following randomization.

Transcatheter Closure of Patent Foramen Ovale

A standard transcatheter closure of PFO will be performed in the Group B cohort. During this non-surgical procedure, the GORE Cardioform Septal Occluder will be used to close the PFO (it is FDA-approved for exactly this purpose for prevention of recurrent stroke) but will be used here in an off-label fashion.

Primary outcome measure

  • Reduction in Monthly Migraine Days (MMD) [ Time Frame: upon completion of the 56-day Post-Therapy monitoring session ]

Central Contacts and Locations

Central contacts

Locations

Columbia University Irving Medical Center - NewYork Presbyterian Hospital (CUIMC/NYP)

Recruiting

New York, New York, United States, 10032

Contacts

Principal Investigator:

Robert J Sommer, MD

More Information

Sponsor

Columbia University

Last update posted

Oct 8, 2026

Last verified

Oct, 2026

Keywords

  • Migraine Headaches
  • Patent Foramen Ovale
  • Thienopyridine
  • COMFORT-PFO
  • Prasugrel

Trial information was received from ClinicalTrials.gov and was last updated on 2026-10-09. This information was provided to ClinicalTrials.gov by Columbia University on 2026-10-08. Recruitment status is synced daily from ClinicalTrials.gov and may not reflect the sponsor's current status. Confirm during your call.