Should women suffering from migraine with aura be screened for biological thrombophilia?: results from a cross-sectional French study

Introduction: Migraine, particularly migraine with aura (MA), is associated with a higher risk for ischemic stroke (IS). A procoagulant state may predispose to IS. Whether inherited biological thrombophilia are associated with migraine risk remains controversial.

Objective: To assess the risk of migraine without or with aura related to inherited biological thrombophilia adjusted for the main potential confounders.

Material and methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted in 1456 French women aged 18 to 56years, referred for biological coagulation check-up because of personal or familial venous thrombosis history. Between April 2007 and December 2008, all women answered a self-administered questionnaire to determine whether they had headache.

Results: There were 294 (20%) migrainous sufferers (including 71 [5%] with MA), 975 (67%) non migrainous women and 187 (13%) non migrainous headache women. Inherited thrombophilia were detected in 576 (40%) women, including 389 (40%) non migrainous women, 90 (40%) migraine without aura (MWA), 33 (46%) MA women and 64 (34%) non migrainous headache women. Factor V Leiden (FVL) i.e. F5rs6025 or Factor II G20210A (FIIL) i.e. F2rs1799963 mutation was detected in 296 (30%) non migrainous women and in 100 (34%) migrainous women of which 27 had MA. There was a significant association between MA and FVL or FIIL mutations (adjusted OR=1.76 [95% CI 1.02-3.06] p=0.04) whereas this association in MWA and in non migrainous headache women was not significant. There was no significant association between migraine and other biological thrombophilia.

Conclusion: FVL or FIIL mutations were more likely among patients suffering from MA. Whether biological thrombophilia screening should be systematically performed in women suffering from MA remains to be determined.