Stroke progression and clinical outcome in ischemic stroke patients with a history of migraine

Background: Patients with migraine might be more susceptible of spreading depolarizations, which are known to affect vascular and neuronal function and penumbra recovery after stroke. We investigated whether these patients have more severe stroke progression and less favorable outcomes after recanalization therapy. Methods: We included patients from a prospective multicenter ischemic stroke cohort. Lifetime migraine history was based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders II criteria. Patients without confirmed migraine diagnosis were excluded. Patients underwent CT angiography and CT perfusion <9 h of onset and follow-up CT after three days. On admission, presence of a perfusion deficit, infarct core and penumbra volume, and blood brain barrier permeability (BBBP) were assessed. At follow-up we assessed malignant edema, hemorrhagic transformation, and final infarct volume. Outcome at three months was evaluated with the modified Rankin Scale (mRS). We calculated adjusted relative risks (aRR) or difference of means (aB) with regression analyses. Results: We included 600 patients of whom 43 had migraine. There were no differences between patients with or without migraine in presence of a perfusion deficit on admission (aRR: 0.98, 95%CI: 0.77–1.25), infarct core volume (aB: -10.8, 95%CI: -27.04–5.51), penumbra volume (aB: -11.6, 95%CI: -26.52–3.38), mean blood brain barrier permeability (aB: 0.08, 95%CI: -3.11–2.96), malignant edema (0% vs. 5%), hemorrhagic transformation (aRR: 0.26, 95%CI: 0.04–1.73), final infarct volume (aB: -14.8, 95%CI: 29.9–0.2) or outcome after recanalization therapy (mRS > 2, aRR: 0.50, 95%CI: 0.21–1.22). Conclusion: Elderly patients with a history of migraine do not seem to have more severe stroke progression and have similar treatment outcomes compared with patients without migraine.