Skip to main content
PMC home page
The BMJ logoLink to The BMJ
. 1995 Apr 1;310(6983):830–833. doi: 10.1136/bmj.310.6983.830

Case-control study of migraine and risk of ischaemic stroke in young women.

C Tzourio 1, A Tehindrazanarivelo 1, S Iglésias 1, A Alpérovitch 1, F Chedru 1, J d'Anglejan-Chatillon 1, M G Bousser 1
PMCID: PMC2549216  PMID: 7711619

Abstract

OBJECTIVE--To determine whether migraine is a risk factor for ischaemic stroke in young women. DESIGN--A case-control study. SETTING--Five hospitals in Paris and suburbs. SUBJECTS--72 women aged under 45 with ischaemic stroke and 173 controls randomly selected from women hospitalised in the same centres. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES--Ischaemic stroke confirmed by cerebral computerised tomography or magnetic resonance imaging; history of headache recorded with structured interview, and diagnosis of migraine assessed by reproducibility study. RESULTS--Ischaemic stroke was strongly associated with migraine, both migraine without aura (odds ratio 3.0 (95% confidence interval 1.5 to 5.8)) and migraine with aura (odds ratio 6.2 (2.1 to 18.0)). The risk of ischaemic stroke was substantially increased for migrainous women who were using oral contraceptives (odds ratio 13.9) or who were heavy smokers (> or = 20 cigarettes/day) (odds ratio 10.2). CONCLUSIONS--These results indicate an independent association between migraine and the risk of ischaemic stroke in young women. Although the absolute risk of ischaemic stroke in young women with migraine is low, the reduction of known risk factors for stroke, in particular smoking and use of oral contraceptives, should be considered in this group.

Full text

PDF
830

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Couch J. R., Hassanein R. S. Platelet aggregability in migraine. Neurology. 1977 Sep;27(9):843–848. doi: 10.1212/wnl.27.9.843. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Gawel M. J., Rose F. C. Platelet function in migraineurs. Adv Neurol. 1982;33:237–242. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Henrich J. B., Horwitz R. I. A controlled study of ischemic stroke risk in migraine patients. J Clin Epidemiol. 1989;42(8):773–780. doi: 10.1016/0895-4356(89)90075-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Henry P., Michel P., Brochet B., Dartigues J. F., Tison S., Salamon R. A nationwide survey of migraine in France: prevalence and clinical features in adults. GRIM. Cephalalgia. 1992 Aug;12(4):229–186. doi: 10.1046/j.1468-2982.1992.1204229.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Kalendovsky Z., Austin J., Steele P. Increased platelet aggregability in young patients with stroke. Diagnosis and therapy. Arch Neurol. 1975 Jan;32(1):13–20. doi: 10.1001/archneur.1975.00490430035004. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Lechat P., Mas J. L., Lascault G., Loron P., Theard M., Klimczac M., Drobinski G., Thomas D., Grosgogeat Y. Prevalence of patent foramen ovale in patients with stroke. N Engl J Med. 1988 May 5;318(18):1148–1152. doi: 10.1056/NEJM198805053181802. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Levine S. R., Welch K. M. Antiphospholipid antibodies. Ann Neurol. 1989 Sep;26(3):386–389. doi: 10.1002/ana.410260312. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Lidegaard O. Cerebrovascular deaths before and after the appearance of oral contraceptives. Acta Neurol Scand. 1987 Jun;75(6):427–433. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-0404.1987.tb05473.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Lidegaard O. Oral contraception and risk of a cerebral thromboembolic attack: results of a case-control study. BMJ. 1993 Apr 10;306(6883):956–963. doi: 10.1136/bmj.306.6883.956. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Marini C., Carolei A., Roberts R. S., Prencipe M., Gandolfo C., Inzitari D., Landi G., De Zanche L., Scoditti U., Fieschi C. Focal cerebral ischemia in young adults: a collaborative case-control study. The National Research Council Study Group. Neuroepidemiology. 1993;12(2):70–81. doi: 10.1159/000110303. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Montagna P., Gallassi R., Medori R., Govoni E., Zeviani M., Di Mauro S., Lugaresi E., Andermann F. MELAS syndrome: characteristic migrainous and epileptic features and maternal transmission. Neurology. 1988 May;38(5):751–754. doi: 10.1212/wnl.38.5.751. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Pearson A. C., Nagelhout D., Castello R., Gomez C. R., Labovitz A. J. Atrial septal aneurysm and stroke: a transesophageal echocardiographic study. J Am Coll Cardiol. 1991 Nov 1;18(5):1223–1229. doi: 10.1016/0735-1097(91)90539-l. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Schoenberg B. S., Whisnant J. P., Taylor W. F., Kempers R. D. Strokes in women of childbearing age. A population study. Neurology. 1970 Feb;20(2):181–189. doi: 10.1212/wnl.20.2.181. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Tzourio C., Iglesias S., Hubert J. B., Visy J. M., Alpérovitch A., Tehindrazanarivelo A., Biousse V., Woimant F., Bousser M. G. Migraine and risk of ischaemic stroke: a case-control study. BMJ. 1993 Jul 31;307(6899):289–292. doi: 10.1136/bmj.307.6899.289. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from BMJ : British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES