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Stroke and migraine in the oxfordshire community stroke project

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Summary

A total of 323 cases of first-ever stroke were registered in the first 2 years of the Oxfordshire Community Stroke Project. Of these patients, 244 (76%) had a stroke due to cerebral infarction. There was a past history of migraine headaches in 56 (17%) of the 323 cases of stroke and in 44 (18%) of the 244 cases of cerebral infarction. A past history of migraine headaches was no commoner in patients with stroke due to cerebral infarction than in those with stroke due to intracranial haemorrhage. One hundred and seventy-three (71%) patients with cerebral infarction had at least one risk factor for ischaemic stroke; the frequency of such risk factors was similar in patients with and without a history of migraine. In 7 (3%) of the 244 patients the cerebral infarction was presumed to be “migrainous”; however, only 3 of these 7 (1.2% of the 24) were free of risk factors for ischaemic stroke. If all 7 cases were considered migrainous, the incidence rate of first migrainous cerebral infarction was 3.36 per 100,000 per year (95% confidence limits 0.87–5.86). If only the 3 patients who were free of risk factors were included, the incidence was 1.44 per 100,000 per year (95% confidence limits 0–3.07).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Radcliffe Infirmary, University Department of Neurology, Woodstock Road, OX2 6HE, Oxford, England

    J. B. Henrich, P. A. G. Sandercock, C. P. Warlow & L. N. Jones

  2. Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA

    J. B. Henrich

Authors
  1. J. B. Henrich
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  2. P. A. G. Sandercock
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  3. C. P. Warlow
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  4. L. N. Jones
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Additional information

J. B. Henrich (Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut, USA) undertook this work while a visiting research fellow at the Department of Clinical Neurology, University of Oxford

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Henrich, J.B., Sandercock, P.A.G., Warlow, C.P. et al. Stroke and migraine in the oxfordshire community stroke project. J Neurol 233, 257–262 (1986). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314155

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00314155

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