Abstract
The aim of this study is to identify the pathophysiology of migraine attack with prolonged aura (between 1 h and 7 days) not clearly understood. We studied cortical cerebral microcirculation by an innovative near infrared spectroscopy system (NIRS) and cerebral macrocirculation by trancranial Doppler (TCD) in eight subjects (3 M and 5 F, age range 21–41 years) during spontaneous prolonged migraine aura and after 1, 2, 4, 6, 12 and 24 h since the end of aura and compared the results with the headache-free periods. During aura NIRS showed a significant decrease of the arterial pulse wave of cerebral microcirculation (APWCM) amplitude (−35%), p < 0.002, and an increase of cerebral tissue oxygen saturation (SctO2) (+15%), p < 0.008 ipsilateral to the headache pain and contralateral to the symptoms of aura compared with the headache-free periods; TCD showed a significant increase of pulsatility index (+38%), p < 0.001 and a significant decrease of the diastolic velocity in the posterior and middle cerebral artery ipsilateral to the headache pain and contralateral to the symptoms of aura compared with the headache-free periods. During prolonged migraine aura we found areas of cortical hypoperfusion corresponding to the topography of aura symptoms that were the result of a decreased metabolic demand rather than ischemic mechanism.
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Viola, S., Viola, P., Litterio, P. et al. Pathophysiology of migraine attack with prolonged aura revealed by transcranial Doppler and near infrared spectroscopy. Neurol Sci 31 (Suppl 1), 165–166 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0318-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-010-0318-1