Peripartum migraines linked to stroke
Frequent migraines experienced during pregnancy may pose danger. In a study aimed at determining the prevalence of peripartum migraine and its association with other medical conditions during pregnancy investigators evaluated diagnoses in a nationwide sample of pregnancy-related discharges from (is hospitals from 2000 to 2003.
Among more than 18 million discharges, almost 34,000 diagnostic codes contained references to migraines (185/100,000 deliveries). In analyzes that excluded preeclampsia, migraine, and ischemic stroke were strongly associated (odds ratio, 30.7); migraine was also associated significantly with myocardial infarction, heart disease, and thromboembolic events.
Migraine incidence rose with maternal age. The women who were 40 or older were 2.4 times more likely to experience migraines than women who were younger than 20.
Women with peripartum migraine, however, were also more likely to have other vascular risk factors, such as diabetes, nongestational hypertension, and smoking.
As for pregnancy-related complications, women who had preeclampsia were more than twice as likely to have peripartum migraines as women who did not have preeclampsia.
Its investigators noted however that since the data do not allow determination of which came first, migraine or the vascular condition, prospective studies of pregnant women are needed to explore this association further.