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.