Table 1.
Characteristics of included studies
| Study design, reference (country) | Study size | Population (age at study entry) | Migraine type | Cardiovascular disease events investigated | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Case-control: | |||||
| Collaborative Group 1975 (USA)w10 | 430 cases, 429 hospital controls or 451 neighbour controls | Women (15-44) | Any | Ischaemic stroke+transient ischaemic attack, haemorrhagic stroke | Only stratified analysis according to oral contraceptive use |
| Henrich 1989 (USA)w16 | 89 cases, 178 controls | Both sexes (15-65) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | |
| Marini 1993 (Italy)w20 | 308 cases, 616 controls | Both sexes (15-44) | Migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke+transient ischaemic attack | |
| Tzourio 1993 (France)w24 | 212 cases, 212 controls | Both sexes, women, men (18-80) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | |
| Tzourio 1995 (France)w25 | 72 cases, 173 controls | Women (18-44) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | |
| Carolei 1996 (Italy)w12 | 308 cases, 591 controls | Both sexes, women, men (15-44) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke, transient ischaemic attack, ischaemic stroke+transient ischaemic attack | |
| Haapaniemi 1997 (Finland)w15 | 506 cases, 345 controls | Women, men (16-60) | Any | Ischaemic stroke | |
| Schwartz 1998 (USA)w23 | 373 cases, 1191 controls | Women (18-44) | Any | Ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke | |
| Chang 1999 (Europe)w13 | 291 cases, 736 controls | Women (20-44) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, total stroke | |
| Donaghy 2002 (Europe)w14 | 86 cases, 214 controls | Women (20-44) | Migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | Subcohort from Chang 1999w13; with focus on interaction of frequency and recency of association between migraine and ischaemic stroke |
| Schwaag 2003 (Germany)w22 | 160 cases, 160 controls | Both sexes (<46) | Any | Ischaemic stroke+transient ischaemic attack | |
| MacClellan 2007 (USA)w4 | 386 cases, 614 controls | Women (15-49) | Migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | “Probable migraine” investigated |
| Pezzini 2007 (Italy)w5 | 333 cases, 187 controls | Both sexes (<45) | Migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | Only stratified analysis according to cervical artery dissection |
| Cohort: | |||||
| Sternfeld 1995 (USA)w7 | 79 588 participants | Women, men (any) | Any | Myocardial infarction | Two cohorts distinguished because ascertainment of migraine changed during study period |
| Hall 2004 (UK)w1 | 140 814 patients | Both sexes (any) | Any | Ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, total stroke, myocardial infarction, coronary heart disease, death due to cardiovascular disease | Same database as in Nightingale 200418 and Becker 2007w11 |
| Velentgas 2004 (USA)w8 | 260 822 participants | Both sexes (any) | Any | Transient ischaemic attack, total stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, death due to cardiovascular disease | |
| Kurth 2005 (USA)w18 | 39 717 participants | Women (≥45) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, total stroke | Same cohort, but shorter follow-up as in Kurth 2006w3 |
| Kurth 2006 (USA)w3 | 27 840 participants | Women (≥45) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Major cardiovascular disease,* ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, coronary revascularisation procedure, death due to cardiovascular disease | |
| Ahmed 2006 (USA)w9 | 873 participants | Women (any) | Any | Admission to hospital for angina, coronary revascularisation procedure, death due to cardiovascular disease | “Admission to hospital for angina” investigated |
| Becker 2007 (UK)w11 | 103 376 participants | Both sexes, women, men (≤80) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Transient ischaemic attack, total stroke | Same database as in Hall 2004w1 and Nightingale 200418 |
| Kurth 2007 (USA)w2 | 20 084 participants | Men (40-84) | Any | Major cardiovascular disease,* ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, angina, coronary revascularisation procedure, death due to cardiovascular disease | |
| Liew 2007 (Australia)w19 | 1732 participants | Women, men (≥49) | Any, migraine with and without aura | Death due to coronary heart disease | |
| Kurth 2008 (USA)w17 | 27 519 participants | Women (≥45) | Migraine with and without aura | Major cardiovascular disease,* ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction | Same cohort and follow-up as in Kurth 2006w3; focus on interaction of vascular risk on association between migraine and cardiovascular disease |
| Cross sectional: | |||||
| Rose 2004 (USA)w21 | 12 409 participants | Women, men (45-64) | Migraine with and without aura | Coronary heart disease, angina | Cross sectional study, that presents “verified coronary heart disease events after headache onset,” heterogeneous coronary heart disease outcome (myocardial infarction, silent myocardial infarction, CABG, PTCA, fatal coronary heart disease) |
| Stang 2005 (USA)w6 | 12 750 participants | Both sexes (45-64) | Migraine with and without aura | Ischaemic stroke | Cross sectional study, but presents results for “incident ischaemic stroke” (verified stroke events restricted to first stroke and strokes occurring after onset of headaches) |
CABG=coronary artery bypass grafting; PTCA=percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty.
*Combined end point—first of any of ischaemic stroke, myocardial infarction, or death due to cardiovascular disease.