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Abstract
Objective: It is well-known that migraine attacks can be precipitated by various stimuli. More than 50% of patients with migraine with aura (MA) know of at least one stimulus that always or often triggers their MA attacks. The objective of this study was to expose patients with MA to their self-reported trigger factors in order to assess the causal relation between trigger factors and attacks.
Methods: We recruited 27 patients with MA who reported that bright or flickering light or strenuous exercise would trigger their migraine attacks. The patients were experimentally provoked by different types of photo stimulation, strenuous exercise, or a combination of these 2 factors. During and following provocation, the patients would report any aura symptoms or other migraine-related symptoms.
Results: Of 27 provoked patients with MA, 3 (11%) reported attacks of MA following provocation. An additional 3 patients reported migraine without aura attacks. Following exercise, 4 out of 12 patients reported migraine, while no patients developed attacks following photo stimulation.
Conclusion: Experimental provocation using self-reported natural trigger factors causes MA only in a small subgroup of patients with MA. Prospective confirmation is important for future studies of migraine trigger factors and in the clinical management of patients with migraine.
Glossary
- MA=
- migraine with aura;
- MO=
- migraine without aura
Footnotes
Go to Neurology.org for full disclosures. Funding information and disclosures deemed relevant by the authors, if any, are provided at the end of the article.
Editorial, page 424
- Received May 22, 2012.
- Accepted in final form September 11, 2012.
- © 2013 American Academy of Neurology
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- Provoking migraine with natural triggers: An important topic for researchers and clinicians
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