Migrainous cerebral infarction in the Sagrat Cor Hospital of Barcelona stroke registry

Abstract

Nine of 2000 consecutive stroke patients included in the Sagrat Cor Hospital of Barcelona Stroke Registry over a 10-year period fulfilled the strictly defined International Headache Society criteria for migrainous stroke and in whom other causes of stroke were ruled out. They accounted for 13% of all first-ever ischaemic stroke of unusual cause. Migrainous stroke was more common in women (67%) and in patients aged 45 years or younger (78%) compared to the remaining ischaemic strokes of unusual cause. No patient died during hospital stay and 67% were symptom-free at discharge. In the multivariate analysis, nausea or vomiting (odds ratio (OR) 8.40, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.49-47.21) and age (OR 0.95, 95% CI 0.91-0.99) were predictors of migrainous stroke. Migrainous stroke is a rare entity. Vascular risk factors are uncommon and the prognosis is generally good. Patients with migrainous stroke present some different clinical features from other ischaemic strokes of unusual aetiology.