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The extracranial vascular theory of migraine: an artificial controversy

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Abstract

Over the years there has been a considerable amount of controversy over whether the vascular component of migraine pain arises from the intracranial or the extracranial vessels, or both. Some have even questioned whether vasodilatation actually plays a significant role in migraine pain, and have described it as an unimportant epiphenomenon. The controversy is an artificial one though, which has been generated as a consequence of misrepresentation of the facts in the headache literature. In this review, some of the more blatant distortions in the literature are exposed.

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  1. The Headache Clinic, 45 Empire Rd, Johannesburg, 2193, South Africa

    Elliot Shevel

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  1. Elliot Shevel
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Correspondence to Elliot Shevel.

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Shevel, E. The extracranial vascular theory of migraine: an artificial controversy. J Neural Transm 118, 525–530 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00702-010-0517-1

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