Stroke-like attack: first episode of sporadic hemiplegic migraine

Abstract

Hemiplegic migraine (HM) is a rare migraine with aura; it can be familiar or sporadic. A 46-years-old man presented left migraine followed by right hemiparesis with bilateral plantar flexion of cutaneous plantar reflex (CPR). Brain CT and CT-angiography were normal. The next day patient got worse. The EEG showed left fronto-temporal cuspidate delta waves and brain MRI showed a minimal hyperintensity at T2-sequences in the left frontal cortex with a minor representation of the cortical veins at susceptibility weighted imaging sequences. After 3 days, he had a progressive neurological improvement. After 2 weeks, EEG and brain MRI were normal. He was discharged with diagnosis of probably first attack of sporadic HM and after 8 months he was asymptomatic. The normal CPR on the hemiplegic side might be a clinical marker of functional hemiplegia. For the international classification of headache disorder (ICHD-3) two attacks are necessary for HM diagnosis. We propose for the first attack of HM to make diagnosis of “probable” HM as expected to the same ICHD-3 for migraine. Further studies are necessary to support our hypotheses.