Prevalence of white matter lesions and stroke in children with migraine.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of white matter lesions (WMLs) and infarcts in children with migraine and whether pediatric migraine could be a risk factor for silent ischemic lesions or stroke.

METHODS

Prospectively collected data from 1,008 pediatric patients with headache were reviewed. The MRI data were collected and retrospectively reviewed.

RESULTS

Of the 926 patients diagnosed with migraine, 375 patients had MRIs and 115 had abnormalities, of which 39 had WMLs. Among them, 24 (6% of migraine) patients had incidental white matter findings without known neurovascular disease, risk factors, or etiologies for WMLs. The prevalence of WMLs is more common in migraine with aura (10%) than without aura (4%) (p = 0.038), but it is not statistically significant compared with controls (4%) (p = 0.119). Deep WMLs are more prevalent than periventricular lesions; these are detected mainly in the frontal and parietal lobes. No lesions appeared to be infarct-like lesions. There was no association between the total lesion load and chronicity or the frequency of migraine. WMLs are nonprogressive. Pediatric migraineurs with aura do not develop stroke, based on the available follow-up data.

CONCLUSION

WMLs in pediatric patients with migraine and aura are no more prevalent than in controls. They appear to be benign and are not associated with stroke.