title: The Visual Aura Rating Scale (VARS) for migraine aura diagnosis.
abstract: To supplement the traditional ICHD-2 diagnosis for migraine with aura (MA) we developed a diagnostic scale for migraine aura that quantifies the importance of the cardinal characteristics of MA. Since more than 99% of MA patients have visual aura, we developed for simplicity a Visual Aura Rating Scale (VARS). In total 427 patients with MA (ICHD-2) or nonaura visual disturbances were diagnosed in a validated semistructured interview by a trained physician. The patients were separated into a derivation sample and a validation sample. By regression analysis we identified the visual aura characteristics associated with MA in the derivation sample. Based on the identified characteristics we developed VARS and derived a predictive VARS score which was tested in the validation sample. The VARS score is the weighted sum of the presence of five visual symptom characteristics: duration 5-60 min (3 points), develops gradually > or = 5 min (2 points), scotoma (2 points), zig-zag lines (2 points), and unilateral (1 point). The maximum score is 10 points. A VARS score of 5 or more diagnosed MA with a sensitivity of 96% (95% CI 92-99%) and a specificity of 98%(95% CI 95-100%) in the derivation sample, and a sensitivity of 91% (95% CI 86-95%) and a specificity of 96% (95% CI 91-100%) in the validation sample. VARS adds evidence based weights to a number of clearly specified characteristics; it is easy to learn, apply and teach and may therefore be a valuable addition to traditional ICHD-2 diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: Danish Headache Center, University of Copenhagen, and Department of Neurology, Glostrup Hospital, Nordre Ringvej 57, DK-2600 Glostrup, Denmark. kirchmann@dadlnet.dk
authors.forename: M K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Eriksen
authors.forename: L L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Thomsen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Olesen
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015984:Causality; D002648:Child; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D011379:Prognosis; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D014786:Vision Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014787:Vision Tests / Q000379:methods*