As migraine has been associated with ischemic stroke and ischemic heart disease, this study was designed to better understand the cardiovascular morbidity associated with migraine.

This Danish cohort study used prospective data collected by the National Health Insurance Program, involving the entire Danish population. The Danish National Patient Registry was reviewed for patients with a first-time primary or secondary migraine between 1995 and 2013. These patients were matched with 10 migraine-free individuals in the general population. Outcomes included myocardial infarction, ischemic and hemorrhagic stroke, peripheral artery disease, venous thromboembolism, atrial fibrillation or flutter and heart failure.

The migraine cohort included 51，032 with a median age at diagnosis of 35 years. After adjusting for covariables, migraine was associated with myocardial infarction (HR＝1.49), ischemic stroke (HR＝2.26), hemorrhagic stroke (HR＝1.94), venous thromboembolism (HR＝1.59) and atrial fibrillation/flutter (HR＝1.25). A subgroup analysis revealed that those with aura had a higher risk than those without aura for all outcomes except venous thromboembolism and heart failure.

This study found that migraine is associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, stronger among patients with aura than among those without, and stronger in women as compared with men.