The full results of the CLOSURE I trial to reduce the risk of stroke in patients with patent foramen ovale who had a previous cryptogenic stroke are now published in the March 15 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine (N. Engl. J. Med. 2012;366:991-9). The results are not substantially different from our report on the results of the trial when they were presented at the American Heart Association scientific sessions in 2010 (See related story on the sidebar).
The percentages of patients who experienced the primary end points of transient ischemic attack, stroke, or the composite of the two were slightly different in the two reports, but this did not alter the results of the statistical analyses or the conclusions drawn by the investigators.