Objective: To determine whether smaller atrial shunts (large persistent foramen ovale (PFO) and small atrial septal defect (ASD)) are inherited and whether this has a role in the inheritance of migraine with aura. Methods: Contrast echocardiography was used to detect atrial shunts in 71 relatives of 20 probands with a significantly sized atrial shunt (large PFO or ASD). Four families with three...

CONTEXT Clinical series have suggested an increased prevalence of cerebral infarction and white matter lesions (WMLs) in migraine patients. It is not known whether these lesions are prevalent in the general migraine population. OBJECTIVES To compare the prevalence of brain infarcts and WMLs in migraine cases and controls from the general population and to identify migraine characteristics ass...

The underlying mechanism of migraine and pain has been unraveled recently with the advent of neuroimaging. In this article mechanism of migraine aura and the pain of migraine are discussed. In addition, interictal studies demonstrating hyperexcitability in migraine are reviewed.

BACKGROUND The aim of this study was to investigate the thickness of the retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL), the ganglion cell layer (GCL), and choroid thickness (CT) in patients who have migraines, with and without aura, using spectral optical coherence tomography (OCT). METHODS Forty-five patients who had migraines without aura (Group 1), 45 patients who had migraines with aura (Group 2), and...

P/Q Ca2+ channels are genetically abnormal in most cases of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) and may be involved in other types of migraine. They are also found at the neuromuscular junctions, where they control stimulation-induced acetylcholine release. Prolonged aura is a very frequent clinical feature in FHM patients. The objective of this study was thus to explore neuromuscular transmissi...

Background and Purpose The aura phase of migraine is associated with focal blood flow changes, but it has been largely unknown whether these changes are correlated to changes in the cerebral metabolism. Methods Eight patients required carotid angiography for evaluation of transient neurological attacks. Cerebral blood flow (CBF) results, angiography, and clinical observations subsequently sugge...

Migraine may be associated with neck impairment and migraine chronicity is related to greater disability. However, whether other subclassifications of migraine, such as aura, are currently unknown. The aim this study was assess the musculoskeletal aspects in patients without aura. Consecutive diagnosed were recruited from a tertiary headache clinic. divided into two groups according presence (M...

Migraine is a neurological disorder characterized by an increased individual susceptibility to respond to certain triggers by a propagating wave of neuronal depolarization that culminates in typical migraine headaches. Patients with a patent foramen ovale or any kind of right-to-left shunt are more likely to have migraine; and patients with migraine with aura are more likely to have a patent fo...

Transient dynamics is pervasive in the human brain and poses challenging problems both in mathematical tractability and clinical observability. We investigate statistical properties of transient cortical wave patterns with characteristic forms (shape, size, duration) in a canonical reaction-diffusion model with mean field inhibition. The patterns are formed by ghost behavior near a saddle-node ...

OBJECTIVE To study the efficacy and practicality of treating headache in professional footballers with intranasal sumatriptan. METHODS An open label drug trial was performed in elite Australian footballers using intranasal sumatriptan (20 mg) treatment for acute headache. The main outcome measures were treatment response at 30 minutes, two hours, and 24 hours using two criteria: (a) initial s...