Increased prevalence of migraine and chest pain in patients with primary Raynaud disease.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the prevalence of headaches and recurrent chest pain in patients with primary Raynaud disease.


METHODS
Postal survey.


METHODS
Raynaud disease clinic at the Lahey Clinic Medical Center, a tertiary care hospital.


METHODS
A consecutive series of 120 patients with primary Raynaud disease who had been observed for at least 2 years, 97 of whom received and 93 of whom completed the questionnaire, and a control group of 93 age- and sex-matched hospital employees without Raynaud phenomenon.


RESULTS
Migraine was diagnosed in 57 (61%) patients with primary Raynaud disease and in 21 (23%) of the control group (odds ratio, 5.4; 95% CI, 2.8 to 10.3). Migraine with aura and migraine without aura were more common in patients with Raynaud disease than in the control subjects (27% compared with 5%; P less than 0.001 and 34% compared with 17%; P = 0.008, respectively). Nonmigrainous headaches were more common in the control group (51% compared with 25%; P = 0.003). Chest pains were reported by 44 (47%) of the patients with Raynaud disease and by 15 (16%) of the control group (odds ratio, 4.4; CI, 2.4 to 9.3). Chest pains were more frequently reported by patients with Raynaud disease who had migraine (34 of 57, 60%) than by patients without migraine (10 of 36, 28%; P = 0.003).


CONCLUSIONS
An increased prevalence of migraine was found in patients with primary Raynaud disease. Chest pain, often diagnosed as musculoskeletal or nonspecific, was common in patients with primary Raynaud phenomenon, especially in patients who had coexisting migraine.
O'Keeffe
S T
ST
Lahey Clinic Medical Center, Burlington, Massachusetts.
Tsapatsaris
N P
NP
Beetham
W P
WP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002637:Chest Pain / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016001:Confidence Intervals; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D016017:Odds Ratio; D015995:Prevalence; D011928:Raynaud Disease / Q000150:complications*; D012008:Recurrence; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires