Edwin Y. Endo, OD Optometrists, Eye Doctors Of Honolulu

There is a known association between migraine with visual aura and risk of cardioembolic stroke. The authors of this study utilized data from the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities study to investigate the association among migraine with visual aura, stroke, and atrial fibrillation (AF). Using regression models adjusted for multiple confounders, there was an association between AF and migraine with visual aura, with a hazard ratio compared with no headache of 1.30 and compared with migraine without visual aura of 1.39.

The results suggest that AF could be a possible mechanism of the increased incidence of stroke associated with migraine with visual aura. There are practical implications, at the very least prompting the need for a lower threshold for investigating the possibility of AF in patients with migraine with visual aura.