Migraine with aura may increase risk of cardiovascular events

Researchers from the University of Sydney point to possible links between migraine with aura and an increased risk of coronary heart disease mortality in women.Dr Jie Jin Wang and colleagues (University of Sydney) highlight that whilst there is substantial evidence linking migraine to an increased relative risk of stroke, the relationship between migraine and coronary heart disease (CHD) is less clear.To investigate further, 2,331 adults were interviewed to elucidate a history of migraine with aura or migraine without aura. This data was linked to CHD deaths recorded in the Australian National Death Index (NDI), which has been estimated to have high sensitivity (92.5%) and specificity (89.6%) for cardiovascular mortality.In total, 233 women and 69 men reported a history of any migraine. Of these, 119 (11.3%) women and 44 (6.5%) men gave a history of migraine with aura, and 114 (10.8%) women and 25 (3.7%) men gave a history of migraine without aura.Over six years of follow-up, 30 women (2.8%) and 30 men (4.4%) died from CHD-related causes. In women, a history of migraine with aura was associated with a non-significant twofold higher risk of CHD death compared with women without a history of any migraine. This finding remained after adjustment for coronary risk factors. The authors report no CHD deaths in men with a history of migraine.Dr Wang's group state that their report supports recent findings that that migraine with aura "may increase the relative risk of cardiovascular events, including ischaemic cardiovascular death, in women, whereas MoA (migraine with aura) does not appear to." However, they add that the current findings differ from earlier reports linking migraine in women with a reduced relative risk of death."If confirmed in other populations, these findings imply that there may be biological links between migraine and systemic cardiovascular disease," Wang and colleagues conclude, adding, "The nature of any such links are unknown, but may involve pro-coagulable states or a generalized vascular disorder."Reference...