Migraine More Common in Patients With Cardiac Syndrome X

HealthDay News — The prevalence of migraine headache is elevated in patients with cardiac syndrome X (CSX) compared to patients with coronary artery disease or healthy controls, according to a research letter published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

In a prospective study, Reza Nemati, MD, from the Bushehr University of Medical Sciences in Iran, and colleagues examined the prevalence of migraine headache in three groups: 50 patients with CSX, 50 patients with coronary artery disease, and 50 healthy controls.

The researchers found that the prevalence of migraine was 60, 16, and 22% in CSX patients, the coronary artery disease group, and the healthy control group, respectively (P < 0.0001). In women and men with CSX the frequency of migraine headache was 70.4 and 52.2%, respectively.

“Our study concluded that CSX may presumably be a manifestation of migraine as another migraine equivalent,” the authors write. “After the ongoing evidence on the multifaceted pathophysiology of CSX, it became even more clear that there is a need for a pragmatic approach to education and training of medical practitioners in the management of patients, especially in refractory patients using the current treatment.”

Reference

Nemati R, Movahhednia M, Mehdizadeh S, et al. Association Between Migraine Headache and Cardiac Syndrome X. J Am Coll Cardiol. 2016;67(17):2087-2088. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2015.12.075.