title: Prevalence of white matter lesions and stroke in children with migraine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the prevalence of white matter lesions (WMLs) and infarcts in children with migraine and whether pediatric migraine could be a risk factor for silent ischemic lesions or stroke.
  
  
  METHODS
  Prospectively collected data from 1,008 pediatric patients with headache were reviewed. The MRI data were collected and retrospectively reviewed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of the 926 patients diagnosed with migraine, 375 patients had MRIs and 115 had abnormalities, of which 39 had WMLs. Among them, 24 (6% of migraine) patients had incidental white matter findings without known neurovascular disease, risk factors, or etiologies for WMLs. The prevalence of WMLs is more common in migraine with aura (10%) than without aura (4%) (p = 0.038), but it is not statistically significant compared with controls (4%) (p = 0.119). Deep WMLs are more prevalent than periventricular lesions; these are detected mainly in the frontal and parietal lobes. No lesions appeared to be infarct-like lesions. There was no association between the total lesion load and chronicity or the frequency of migraine. WMLs are nonprogressive. Pediatric migraineurs with aura do not develop stroke, based on the available follow-up data.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  WMLs in pediatric patients with migraine and aura are no more prevalent than in controls. They appear to be benign and are not associated with stroke.
authors.affiliation: From the Departments of Pediatric and Developmental Neurology, and Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO.
authors.forename: Soe
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mar
authors.forename: James E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Kelly
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Isbell
authors.forename: Wint Yan
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Aung
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lenox
authors.forename: Arthur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prensky
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D017668:Age of Onset; D002544:Cerebral Infarction / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D056784:Leukoencephalopathies / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D008297:Male; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020326:Migraine without Aura / Q000453:epidemiology*; D015995:Prevalence; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D016037:Single-Blind Method