Clinical features of migraine aura: Results from a prospective diary-aided study

Abstract

Background A detailed evaluation of migraine aura symptoms is crucial for classification issues and pathophysiological discussion. Few studies have focused on the detailed clinical aspects of migraine aura. Methods We conducted a prospective diary-based study of migraine aura features including presence, quality, laterality, duration of each aura symptom, their temporal succession; presence of headache and its temporal succession with aura. Results Seventy-two patients completed the study recording the characteristics of three consecutive auras ( n = 216 auras). Visual symptoms occurred in 212 (98%), sensory symptoms in 77 (36%) and dysphasic symptoms in 22 (10%). Most auras had more than one visual symptom (median 2, IQR 1-3, range 1-4). The majority of patients (56%) did not report a stereotyped aura on the three attacks with respect to visual features, the combination and/or temporal succession of the three aura symptoms. Fifty-seven percent of patients also reported a different scenario of temporal succession between aura and headache in the three attacks. Five per cent of aura symptoms were longer than four hours. Conclusion These findings show a high inter- and intravariability of migraine with aura attacks. Furthermore, they provide reliable data to enrich and clarify the spectrum of the aura phenotype.

Heterogenous migraine aura symptoms correlate with visual cortex functional magnetic resonance imaging responses

“…2,29,30 However, although CSD is widely accepted as the underlying mechanism of migraine visual aura, 31 the correlation between the multifaceted phenomenology of aura symptoms and CSD has been sparsely investigated. This clinical heterogeneity of aura symptoms among patients and within the same patient is well known and has been FIGURE 6: Patient 2 and 5.…”

Prolonged migraine aura: new insights from a prospective diary-aided study

“…Generally speaking, an event is considered typical if it describes 95% of a given sample. If we look at the distribution of the duration of all the aura symptoms recorded in our study (see figure - raw data already described in a previous study [3]), 95% of aura symptoms last less than 4 h, while only 5% exceed this Fig. 1.…”

“…Aura comprises completely reversible visual, sensory, or language symptoms (occurring respectively in 98, 36 and 10% of auras) [3]. …”

“…This study forms part of a larger research dedicated to the evaluation of the temporal and qualitative aspects of migraine with aura, whose results have been partly published in 2 previous reports [3, 11]. Preliminary results was presented during the International Headache Congress, Vancouver, Canada, 2017 [12].…”

Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor Val66Met Gene Polymorphism Impacts on Migraine Susceptibility: A Meta-analysis of Case–Control Studies

“…The headache pain is accompanied by other symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia (3). In migraine with aura (MA), attacks are preceded by transient focal neurological symptoms, mostly visual, less frequently somatosensory or dysphasic (4). Migraine is recognized as a multifactorial polygenic disorder involving a complex interaction between genetic and environmental factors (5).…”