This study examined the risks of myocardial infarction, stroke, peripheral artery disease, venous thromboembolism, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure in patients with migraine and in a general population comparison cohort.
Higher risks were observed among patients with incident migraine than in the general population across most outcomes and follow-up periods. Migraine was positively associated with myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke, and haemorrhagic stroke, as well as venous thromboembolism and atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. No meaningful association was found with peripheral artery disease or heart failure. The associations, particularly for stroke outcomes, were stronger during the short term (0-1 years) after diagnosis than the long term (up to 19 years), in patients with aura than in those without aura, and in women than in men.
The authors concluded that migraine was associated with increased risks of myocardial infarction, ischaemic stroke, haemorrhagic stroke, venous thromboembolism, and atrial fibrillation or atrial flutter. They suggest that migraine may be an important risk factor for most cardiovascular diseases.
Adelborg K, Szépligeti SK, Holland-Bill L, Ehrenstein V, Horváth-Puhó E, Henderson VW, Sørensen HT: Migraine and risk of cardiovascular diseases: Danish population based matched cohort study. BMJ. 2018 Jan 31;360:k96. doi: 10.1136/bmj.k96.
