Stroke risk and migraine: near-infrared spectroscopy study

Migraine has been associated with an increased risk for ischemic stroke. A recent study suggests that a generalized peripheral vasoconstriction may represent one possible mechanism underlying the increased risk for ischemic stroke. The aim is to verify the presence of cerebral arteriolar vasoconstriction during the interictal period of migraine with (MA+) and without aura (MA-). We studied 10 patients with MA+ (age 39.5 +/- 12.2 years), 10 with MA- (age 40.3 +/- 10.2 years), according to ICHD-II criteria 2004, during the interictal period of migraine, and 15 age- and sex-matched healthy control subjects. At rest in all the participants, the time-delay in millisecond (ms), between the R-wave of an electrocardiogram and the arterial pulse wave of cerebral microcirculation detected by transcranial near-infrared spectroscopy (R-APWCMtd) on the frontal cortex of both side, was determined to evaluate the presence of cerebral arteriolar vasoconstriction. The patients with migraine had a significantly longer R-APWCMtd than the control subjects: the patients with MA+: +38.3 ms, p < 0.0002; the patients with MA-: +34.7 ms, p < 0.0002. Our study seems to indicate that the migraine is independently associated with a mild vasoconstriction of cerebral arterioles that may represent one possible mechanism underlying the increased stroke risk especially in patients with MA+.