BY JOHN R. BELL
Elsevier Global Medical News
BOSTON (EGMN) - The presence of migraine with aura does not increase the likelihood of left-to-right shunting in patients with cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy, according to findings presented in a poster at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Neurology.
Dr. Christian Stapf of Hopital Lariboisiere, Paris, and colleagues assessed 55 consecutive patients from a prospective national referral cohort who had cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy (CADASIL). Investigators screened the study participants for cardiac left-to-right shunting.
Of the total 55 patients, 15 (27%) had migraine with aura, and 17 (31%) had right-to-left shunting caused by patent foramen ovale (PFO). Mean patient age was 41 years, and 56% were men.
There was no statistically significant difference in the frequency of right-to-left shunting in the 6 patients with migraine and aura and the 11 patients without migraine and aura, judging from findings of the univariate analysis.
Patient age, sex, and stroke history showed no significant association with the migraine and aura diagnosis or with right-to-left shunting, Dr. Stapf and colleagues reported.
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