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Stroke and migraine

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Abstract

Young patients with migraine are at increased risk for stroke, particularly patients with an aura of focal neurologic deficits. Other causes of ischemia are often identified in patients with migraine, including patent foramen ovale, lupus anticoagulant, cervical carotid dissection, arteriovenous malformation, and hyperactivity of the clotting system. Migrainous stroke is only diagnosed when all other possible causes of stroke have been eliminated and the patient has irreversibility of the usual aura, associated with an ischemic infarct in the appropriate brain territory. Prophylactic therapy of migraine with aura may be beneficial in preventing migrainous stroke.

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  1. Department of Neurology, The Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Box 1052, 1 Gustave Levy Place, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Jesse Weinberger MD

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  1. Jesse Weinberger MD
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Correspondence to Jesse Weinberger MD.

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Weinberger, J. Stroke and migraine. Curr Cardiol Rep 9, 13–19 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11886-007-0004-y

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