Edited by David G. Fairchild, MD, MPH, and Jaye Elizabeth Hefner, MD
Migraine is associated with risk for stroke caused by cervical artery dissection, according to a JAMA Neurology study.
Using a large Italian stroke registry, researchers studied nearly 2500 adults aged 18 to 45 who experienced a first ischemic stroke; 13% had spontaneous cervical artery dissection.
A history of migraine without aura was more common in patients with stroke caused by cervical artery dissection than among those with other stroke causes (24% vs. 16%). After adjustment for vascular risk factors, migraine without aura was significantly associated with increased risk for spontaneous cervical artery dissection (odds ratio, 1.74) — an association that was stronger in men than in women and in patients younger than 40 than in older patients.
Migraine with aura was not significantly associated with cervical artery dissection.
An editorialist calls the findings “robust,” while the researchers say the results “support consideration” of migraine as a marker for heightened risk for ischemic stroke due to cervical artery dissection.
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