Migraine and Cryptogenic Ischemic Stroke

Bibliometric Analysis of Research on Migraine-Stroke Association from 2013 to 2023

Background

Both migraine and stroke heavily burden individuals, health systems, and society. The migraine-stroke association is of concern and has been studied widely. Our objective is to explore and overview the current research status and emerging trends.

Materials and Methods

Studies on migraine-stroke association from January 2013 to May 2023 were retrieved and screened from the Web of Science Core Collection (WOSCC) database. Records fulfilling the selection criteria were downloaded and imported into CiteSpace for data mining and visualization.

Results

A total of 862 papers on migraine-stroke association were included. Annual publications grew slowly. The United States and European countries dominated research in this area. Harvard University published the largest number of articles, while the University of London was most active with other institutions. Ayata Cenk contributed the most articles, while KURTH T and NEUROLOGY were co-cited most. Research hotspots included migraine with aura, ischemic stroke, patent foramen ovale, cortical spreading depolarization, meta-analysis, cross-sectional study, and risk factors. Pathophysiology and small vessel disease represented research frontiers and emerging trends.

Conclusion

Our study scientifically outlines the migraine-stroke association over the past decade, presenting useful information.

Risk Profile of Patients with Spontaneous Cervical Artery Dissection

OBJECTIVE

Epidemiological data to characterize the individual risk profile of patients with spontaneous cervical artery dissection (sCeAD) are rather inconsistent.

METHODS AND RESULTS

In the setting of the Italian Project on Stroke in Young Adults Cervical Artery Dissection (IPSYS CeAD), we compared the characteristics of 1,468 patients with sCeAD (mean age = 47.3 ± 11.3 years, men = 56.7%) prospectively recruited at 39 Italian centers with those of 2 control groups, composed of (1) patients whose ischemic stroke was caused by mechanisms other than dissection (non-CeAD IS) selected from the prospective IPSYS registry and Brescia Stroke Registry and (2) stroke-free individuals selected from the staff members of participating hospitals, matched 1:1:1 by sex, age, and race. Compared to stroke-free subjects, patients with sCeAD were more likely to be hypertensive (odds ratio [OR] = 1.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.37-1.98), to have personal history of migraine with aura (OR = 2.45, 95% CI = 1.74-3.34), without aura (OR = 2.67, 95% CI = 2.15-3.32), and family history of vascular disease in first-degree relatives (OR = 1.69, 95% CI = 1.39-2.05), and less likely to be diabetic (OR = 0.65, 95% CI = 0.47-0.91), hypercholesterolemic (OR = 0.75, 95% CI = 0.62-0.91), and obese (OR = 0.41, 95% CI = 0.31-0.54). Migraine without aura was also associated with sCeAD (OR = 1.81, 95% CI = 1.47-2.22) in comparison with patients with non-CeAD IS. In the subgroup of patients with migraine, patients with sCeAD had higher frequency of migraine attacks and were less likely to take anti-migraine preventive medications, especially beta-blockers, compared with the other groups.

INTERPRETATION

The risk of sCeAD is influenced by migraine, especially migraine without aura, more than by other factors, increases with increasing frequency of attacks, and seems to be reduced by migraine preventive medications, namely beta-blockers. ANN NEUROL 2023;94:585-595.

Multisite and multitimepoint proteomics reveal that patent foramen ovale closure improves migraine and epilepsy by reducing right-to-left shunt-induced hypoxia

Patent foramen ovale (PFO) is a congenital defect in the partition between two atria, which may cause right-to-left shunt (RLS), leading to neurological chronic diseases with episodic manifestations (NCDEMs), such as migraine and epilepsy. However, whether PFO closure was effective in improving NCDEMs and the mechanism were unclear. Twenty-eight patients with migraine or epilepsy who underwent PFO closure were recruited. Notably, approximately half of patients received 50% or more reduction in seizure or headache attacks. Meanwhile, the postoperative blood oxygen partial pressure and oxygen saturation were elevated after PFO closure. Multisite (peripheral, right, and left atrial) and multitimepoint (before and after surgery) plasma proteomics from patients showed that the levels of free hemoglobin and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) were significantly increased after PFO closure, which may be related to the relief of the hypoxic state. Furtherly, the omics data from multiple brain regions of mice revealed that a large number of proteins were differentially expressed in the occipital region in response to PFO, including redox molecules and CAMs, suggesting PFO-caused hypoxia may have great impacts on occipital region. Collectively, PFO may cause NCDEMs due to RLS-induced hypoxia, and PFO closure could prevent RLS to improve migraine and epilepsy.

Validation of an Oscillation Test for the Sonographic Assessment of Fetal-Type Posterior Cerebral Artery Variants in Migraine Patients with Visual Aura

Anatomic variants of the posterior circle of Willis, including the fetal-type posterior cerebral artery (FPCA), may contribute to the formation of visual aura in migraine. We sought to validate an oscillation test to investigate FPCA frequency in migraine using transcranial color-coded duplex ultrasonography (TCCS). First, the diagnostic accuracy of the oscillation test used to identify FPCA variants by TCCS was assessed in stroke patients with available computed tomography angiography (CTA) as the set gold standard. Second, in a cross-sectional study, patients with migraine with visual aura (MWVA) and migraine without aura (MWOA), as well as healthy controls, were prospectively recruited for sonographic assessment of FPCA variants. We compared FPCA frequency between migraine patients and controls using χ²-testing and performed logistic regression analysis to investigate a potential association between MWVA and the presence of FPCA variants. Specificity, sensitivity and positive and negative predictive values for sonographic identification of FPCA with CTA as the set gold standard were 93%, 77%, 63% and 96% (partial FPCA) and 99%, 78%, 88% and 98% (complete FPCA), respectively. One hundred forty-two migraine patients (39 ± 12 y, 90 MWVA and 52 MWOA) and 49 healthy controls (31 ± 12 y) were recruited. The χ² testing did not reveal significant differences in FPCA frequency as assessed by TCCS (unilateral or bilateral, partial and/or complete) between migraine patients and controls (MWVA: 40/90 or 44.4%, MWOA: 22/52 or 42.3%, controls: 24/49 or 49%, p = 0.79). Similarly, the frequencies of partial FPCA (p = 0.61) and complete FPCA (p = 0.27) did not vary significantly among groups. Logistic regression analysis revealed no interaction effect between migraine diagnosis and FPCA prevalence (any FPCA), when adjusted for age and sex. The sonographic oscillation test can be used as a non-invasive method to identify partial and complete FPCA variants with high specificity and reasonable sensitivity. Our findings suggest that FPCA variants do not contribute to the formation of visual migraine aura.

Cryptogenic Ischemic Stroke in Migraine: Role of Patent Foramen Ovale

Introduction

Migraine with aura (MWA) has been associated with cryptogenic ischemic stroke (CIS) after adjustment for the presence of a patent foramen ovale (PFO) assessed by a transcranial Doppler. This study aimed at evaluating the association of MWA with causal PFO assessed by Transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) in CIS.

Methods

Patients aged 18–54 years consecutively treated for first acute ischemic stroke in a university hospital stroke unit, between January 2017 and December 2019, were included in this cross-sectional study. Associations between migraine subtypes and PFO were tested for all PFO, possibly causal PFO (PFO with large shunt and/or atrial septal aneurysm [ASA]), and the probably causal PFO subset (large shunt and/or ASA, plus risk of paradoxical embolism [RoPE] score ≥ 7). We adjusted the association between migraine subtypes and possibly causal PFO, which included the probably causal subset for age, sex, large artery atherosclerosis, and small vessel disease.

Results

A total of two hundred and two patients with CIS were included, of whom 42/202 (20%) had MWA, 32/202 (15%) had migraine without aura, and 128/202 (63%) had no migraine. MWA was associated with possibly causal PFO (OR = 4.0, 95%CI [1.78–9.3], P < 0.001) and with probably causal PFO (OR = 5.4, 95%CI [2.37–13], P < 0.001). In a multinomial logistic regression analysis, MWA remained associated with possibly causal PFO (OR = 3.24, 95% CI [1.45–7.2], P = 0.004).

Conclusion

In a young adult population with CIS, MWA was strongly associated with possibly causal PFO, i.e., with a large shunt or combined with an interatrial septal aneurysm.