The Most Feared of Migraine: Migranous Infarction

Abstract

Migrainous infarction is defined as a stroke that occurs during an episode of migraine with aura, in which symptoms extend for more than 60 minutes becoming persistent and related to cerebral ischemia in neuroimaging. Although the pathophysiology of migraine as a possible cause or risk factor for stroke is not clear, vasospasm and changes in blood flow are mechanisms that can explain this phenomenon. The accumulated evidence suggests an association between migraine with aura and the risk of stroke, transient ischemic attack and coronary heart disease, however, the absolute increase in risk is low.

We present the case of two women who consulted to the emergency room, with migraine with aura associated with prolonged campimetric defects, in both cases ischemic lesions in the occipital lobe were documented by magnetic resonance imaging.