Migraine With Aura Is Associated With Cryptogenic Ischemic Stroke in Youth

Migraine with aura has a strong association with cryptogenic ischemic stroke (CIS) in young adult patients, according to the results of a recent study. 

The study included 2 groups of patients: 347 patients aged 18 to 49 years with a recent CIS, and 347 age- and sex-matched patients (±5 years) without a recent CIS. Subgroup analyses were divided by sex and presence of patient foramen ovale.

A screener tool identified any migraine––with aura and without aura––and were confirmed by a headache neurologist. Conditional logistic regression was used to adjust for factors including age, education, hypertension, diabetes, waist-to-hip ratio, physical inactivity, current smoking, heavy drinking, and oral estrogen use to assess independent association between migraine and CIS. 

A subgroup investigated with transcranial Doppler bubble screen was analyzed using logistic regression to find the effect of patient foramen ovale on the association between migraine and CIS.  

According to the study results, any migraine (odds ratio [OR] = 2.48, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.63-3.76) and migraine with aura (OR = 3.50, 95% CI = 2.19-5.61) were associated with CIS, whereas migraine without aura was not. 

“[Migraine with aura] has a strong association with CIS in young patients, independent of vascular risk factors and presence of [patient foramen ovale],” the researchers concluded. 

—Jessica Bard

Reference:

Martinez-Majander N, Artto V, Ylikotila P, et al; SECRETO Study Group. Association between migraine and cryptogenic ischemic stroke in young adults. Ann Neurol. 2021;89(2):242-253. https://doi.org/10.1002/ana.25937