Migraine is a common episodic brain disorder characterized by recurrent attacks of disabling headache.(1) In one-third of patients, headache is preceded or accompanied by aura symptoms, which are transient and fully reversible hemispheric neurologic symptoms. In the absence of any objective marker, the diagnosis of migraine is clinical and based on the criteria proposed by the International Hea...

Background and Purpose—Previous P–magnetic resonance spectroscopy (P-MRS) studies have shown that cerebral cortical energy metabolism is abnormal in migraine and that cortical energy reserves decrease with increasing severity and duration of aura. Migrainous infarction is a rare complication of migraine with aura, and its pathophysiology is poorly understood. We used P-MRS to determine whether ...

OBJECTIVE  To evaluate whether patients with migraine are at increased risk of perioperative ischemic stroke and whether this may lead to an increased hospital readmission rate. DESIGN  Prospective hospital registry study. SETTING  Massachusetts General Hospital and two satellite campuses between January 2007 and August 2014. PARTICIPANTS  124 558 surgical patients (mean age 52.6 years; 5...

OBJECTIVE To compare the prevalence of an incomplete circle of Willis in patients with migraine with aura, migraine without aura, and control subjects, and correlate circle of Willis variations with alterations in cerebral perfusion. METHODS Migraine with aura, migraine without aura, and control subjects were prospectively enrolled in a 1∶1∶1 ratio. Magnetic resonance angiography was performe...

The hypothesis of cytokines as possible pain mediators in neurovascular inflammation offers a potential mechanism for the generation of migraine pain, but few studies examined cytokine levels in migraine patients. The aim of this study was to determine the levels of TNF-α, IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10, and IFN-γ in serum of patients with migraine during attacks and attack-free periods. We evaluated ...

OBJECTIVE To estimate whether migraine in mid-life is associated with mortality from cardiovascular disease, other causes, and all causes. DESIGN Population based cohort study. SETTING Reykjavik, Iceland. PARTICIPANTS 18,725 men and women, born 1907-35 and living in Reykjavik and adjacent communities. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Mortality from cardiovascular disease, non-cardiovascular diseas...

Numerous studies have indicated an increased risk for stroke in patients with migraine, especially migraine with aura; however, many studies used self-reported migraine and only a few controlled for familial factors. We aimed to investigate migraine as a risk factor for stroke in a Swedish population-based twin cohort, and whether familial factors contribute to an increased risk. The study popu...

OBJECTIVE This study examined the association between vascular headaches and retinal microvascular disease. METHODS We investigated the cross-sectional association between headaches (migraine/other headaches with aura, migraine without aura, other headaches without aura, no headaches) and retinal microvascular signs (retinopathy, focal arteriolar narrowing, arteriovenous nicking; arteriolar a...

Background Calcitonin gene-related peptide provokes migraine attacks in 65% of patients with migraine without aura. Whether aggregation of migraine in first-degree relatives (family load) or a high number of risk-conferring single nucleotide polymorphisms contributes to migraine susceptibility to calcitonin gene-related peptide infusion in migraine patients is unknown. We hypothesized that gene...

CONTEXT Migraine with aura has been associated with an adverse cardiovascular risk profile and prothrombotic factors that, along with migraine-specific physiology, may increase the risk of vascular events. Although migraine with aura has been associated with increased risk of ischemic stroke, an association with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and, specifically, coronary events remains unclear. ...