Migraine Patients Who Experience Aura May Have A Two-Fold Increased Risk For Ischemic Stroke

Main Category: Headache / Migraine
Also Included In: Stroke
Article Date: 16 Sep 2009 - 1:00 PDT

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A systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control and cohort studies finds that patients with migraine with aura have a two-fold increased risk for ischemic stroke compared to non-migraineurs. This association does not appear among migraineurs without aura[i]. Migraine with aura is often characterized by visual disturbances such as flashes of light, zigzagging patterns or even blind spots, which are then followed by a migraine attack. A migraine aura may sometimes also present with other sensations, such as numbness or tingling in parts of the body and speech problems.[ii]

Results of the studies are being presented this week at the 14th International Headache Congress (IHC) hosted in Philadelphia by the American Headache Society (AHS).

The authors also found that the increased risk among migraineurs with aura was further magnified for migraineurs less than 45, smokers and women using oral contraception.

The analysis was done by a team of researchers from Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston; Harvard School of Public Health, Boston; Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY; Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ; Montefiore Headache Center, Bronx, NY; INSERM Unit 708, Paris, France; Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France; and University Hospital Essen, Germany.

"Our purpose was to pool and analyze existing data to investigate the association between migraine and risk of stroke as well as other cardiovascular events," said Markus Schuerks, M.D., M.Sc., lead author of the analysis. "We found that patients who experience migraine with aura have a two-fold increased risk for ischemic stroke, although we did not find any overall association between any migraine and myocardial infarction or death due to cardiovascular disease," he said.

"Beyond its pain and debilitating side effects, migraine holds real risks associated with other disorders, including stroke," said Fred Sheftell, M.D., AHS president. "This meta-analysis further validates the disease burden that migraine sufferers must bear and dramatically underscores the need for more research in migraine diagnosis and treatment."

More than 400 scientific papers are to be presented during the IHC/AHS meeting which is expected to draw some 1,200 migraine specialists and scientists from around the globe. The meeting is the world's largest professional conference on migraine and headache-related diseases.

[i] Migraine and cardiovascular disease: a systematic review and meta-analysis
Schuerks M1,9, Rist PM1,2, Bigal ME3,4, Lipton RB3,5,6, Buring JE1,2 and Kurth T1,2,7,8 1Division. of Preventive Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; 2Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, MA, USA; 3Neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 4Merck Research Laboratories, Merck and Co., Inc., Whitehouse Station, NJ, USA; 5Department of Epidemiology and Population Health, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 6Montefiore Headache Center, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, USA; 7Neuroepidemiology, INSERM Unit 708, Paris, France; 8Faculty of Medicine, Pierre et Marie Curie University, Paris, France; 9Neurology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany

[ii] MayoClinic.com, March 3, 2009.

Source
International Headache Society