title: Prevalence of cardiac right left shunts in migraine: a population-based case-control study.
abstract: We aimed to investigate the prevalence of cardiac right left shunts (RLS) in population-based samples of subjects with migraine with aura (n = 42), migraine without aura (n = 44) and controls without headache (n = 41). Cardiac RLS was assessed with transcranial Doppler sonography with intravenous injection of saline. Prevalence of RLS was highest in migraineurs with aura (45.2%) compared to migraineurs without aura (34.1%) and controls (41.5%). Permanent as opposed to latent RLS was more common among patients with migraine with aura (40.5%) than in patients with migraine without aura (23.3%) or controls (24.4%). Differences did not reach statistical significance between the three groups (p = 0.564 for RLS prevalence, p = 0.349 for prevalence of permanent shunts). Our data implicate a trend towards higher prevalence of RLS with larger shunts in subjects with migraine with aura.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology and Headache Center, University of Duisburg-Essen, Hufelandstr. 55, 45122 Essen, Germany. Michael.Kueper@uni-due.de
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Küper
authors.forename: Kasja
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Rabe
authors.forename: Dagny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Holle
authors.forename: Irini
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Savidou
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Dommes
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Frings
authors.forename: Hans Christoph
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Diener
authors.forename: Zaza
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Katsarava
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D054092:Foramen Ovale, Patent / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D014463:Ultrasonography