Cardiovascular risk factors and white matter hyperintensities in patients with migraine without aura.

OBJECTIVES: White matter hyperintensities (WMHs) are observed in patients with migraine with aura (MWA) and without aura (MWO), but there are a limited number of studies regarding patients with MWA. In this study, we aimed to investigate the cardiovascular risk factors which may play a role in the development of WMHs in patients with MWO.

METHODS: This observational, analytical, case-control study was conducted between June 2016 and January 2017. It included 21 patients with MWO who had WMHs on brain MRI and 19 patients with MWO who tested normal on MRI (control group) at the Neurology Department Outpatient Polyclinic, Ankara Training and Research Hospital. The patients' data (history, family history, neurological examination findings, echocardiography findings, and cerebral MRI findings) were retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS: Age, gender, body mass index, blood lipid level, migraine duration, localization of headache, average number of headache per month, medication for headache attack, and echocardiography findings were similar between the two groups. (p>0.05).

CONCLUSION: In this study, we did not find any association between cardiovascular risk factors and WMHs development in patients with MWO. The association of risk factors other than cardiovascular risk factors (genetic factors and oxidative stress) with the development of WMHs in patients with MWO should also be studied in future.