Migraine with aura and stroke - the role of warning signs in the context of secondary headaches: case report

Abstract

IntroductionHeadache is a very common complaint in doctors' offices, with primary causes being the majority in relation to secondary ones. Despite this, the identification of secondary headaches is very relevant in clinical practice, since these can be a life-threatening condition, functionality or even a reversible cause. However, imaging screening for all individuals with headache is costly and unrewarding. Therefore, it is important to know the warning signs that, together with the clinical context, lead to a more precise indication of these exams and early and well-targeted therapeutic interventions.Clinical caseThis is a 60-year-old man, previously dyslipidemic and smoker, with migraine with aura reported since childhood, who underwent treatment with sodium valproate, with headache attack suppression. About 4 months before admission, he presented with an alteration in the pain pattern, amaurosis fugax in the right eye, dizziness and mild paresis and hypoesthesia in the left side of the body, primarily treated by him as migraine crises, without improvement with the use of triptans. A new outpatient investigation was carried out, which showed multiple small infarcts in the right hemisphere secondary to atheromatous plaque in the right carotid bulb with an obstruction of approximately 85%. Diagnostic and therapeutic arteriography was performed, with stent implantation, uneventfully.ConclusionThe differential diagnosis between migraine with aura and a cerebrovascular event has already been widely reported in the literature and constitutes a pitfall in the routine of headaches, since a serious and potentially disabling condition can be overlooked. The joint evaluation of the alarm signs with the global context becomes an important tool in the propaedeutics of these patients, with knowledge of this casuistry being something relevant within clinical practice.