No full-text available
To read the full-text of this research,
you can request a copy directly from the authors.
Platelet hyperactivity during acute migraine attack
... Migraine and stroke share many features, including a vasospastic component, regional decreases in cerebral blood flow, platelet aggregation, and focal neurologic and ophthalmologic signs and symptoms. [1][2][3] Persons with a migraine history may experience a stroke not occurring during a migraine attack or a "migrainous" stroke. Although initial symptoms of both types of stroke may be similar and the clinical diagnosis only apparent over time, most strokes experienced by migraineurs are not related to a particular migraine attack because the incidence of migrainous stroke is very low. ...
To evaluate the occurrence of stroke/TIA symptoms and ischemic stroke events among those with a lifetime history of migraine or other headaches with some migraine features in a biracial cohort of older adults.
Participants were 12,750 African-American and white men and women from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study (1993 to 1995). The participants were queried about their lifetime headache history and characterized using modified International Headache Society diagnostic criteria. Stroke/TIA symptoms were classified using a computerized diagnostic algorithm, and ischemic stroke events were identified and validated using medical records. Multivariate logistic regression was used to assess the relationship between headache types and stroke/TIA symptoms and ischemic stroke events.
Migraine with aura was strongly associated with stroke symptoms (odds ratio [OR] 5.46, 95% CI: 3.64 to 8.18), TIA symptoms (OR 4.28, 95% CI: 3.02 to 6.08), and verified ischemic stroke events (OR 2.81, 95% CI: 1.60 to 4.92). Similarly, other headaches with aura were significantly associated with stroke symptoms (OR 3.68, 95% CI: 2.26 to 5.99) and TIA symptoms (OR 4.53, 95% CI: 3.08 to 6.67). In contrast, the associations for migraine without aura and other headaches without aura were not as consistent or robust.
Migraines and other headaches, particularly those accompanied by aura, were associated with an increased occurrence of stroke/TIA symptoms and ischemic stroke events.
We still know remarkably little about the pathogenesis of any of the forms of headache that do not have clear-cut structural abnormalities. Over the years a large number of investigators have studied the problem, but unfortunately their observations have tended to become submerged in an excess of speculation. Many of these “unifying hypotheses” are undoubtedly incorrect, and have only served to make matters unnecessarily complicated. In this account an attempt will be made to discuss objective pathophysiological facts, paying less attention to ideas not yet supported by clinical or experimental evidence.
SYNOPSIS
We used transmission electron microscopy to investigate selected aspects of the platelet response (surface activation as well as aggregation) and quantify cytoplasmic organelles within the cytoplasm of platelets obtained from both healthy control women and women diagnosed as having either common or classic migraine. Comparisons between controls and migraineurs showed no differences for: (1) the number of circulating platelets, (2) degree of surface activation, (3) amount of aggregate formation or (4) percent of hyperactive platelet populations. In contrast, platelets of migraine sufferers uniformly containeda significantly greater number of dense bodies compared to control platelets. Although we did not find functional abnormalities for the platelets obtained from migraineurs, we did demonstrate that they were altered structurally.
SYNOPSIS
Although it has long been appreciated that migrainous aura symptoms can occur without headache, it is less well known that headache often follows apparently embolic transient ischaemic attacks. It is suggested that these two diagnoses may originate with similar, if not identical, mechanisms, and that a predisposition to spreading depression may underly those clinical features usually considered characteristic of migraine.
ResearchGate has not been able to resolve any references for this publication.