Migraine angiitis precipitated by sex headache and leading to watershed infarction

Abstract

Vasospasm is a rare cause of cerebrovascular disease except following subarachnoid haemorrhage. We describe a woman who developed an explosive-type sex headache, followed by a series of severe migrainous headaches associated with fully reversible segmental cerebral arterial narrowing and dilatation, resulting in widespread infarction in cerebral arterial border zones. This led to transient loss of consciousness and multiple focal cortical deficits including blindness. She had a past history of migraine and a family history of both migraine and sex headaches. Similar cases have been reported in the literature under a variety of rubrics. We suggest that this newly recognized clinico-radiological syndrome is a migraine variant.