The role of cardiac diseases in the comorbidity between migraine and stroke

Abstract.

Several case-control and cohort studies have suggested an association between migraine and stroke. A significantly higher risk for stroke was found in women under the age of 45 years and for the subgroup with migraine with aura, the posterior circulation being significantly more frequently involved. The link between cardiac diseases and the comorbidity migraine–stroke has been evaluated considering both possible relationships: a higher prevalence of a vascular disease involving both heart and brain in migraineurs, or a cardiac disorder, more prevalent in migraineurs, with a possible aetiological role in migraine attacks.