Abstract

Background: Spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD) is a nonatherosclerotic cause of myocardial infarction (MI) occurring most often in young women without cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors. SCAD is associated with fibromuscular dysplasia (FMD), pregnant/postpartum state, and extreme mental stress or physical exertion. Migraine headaches have been reported common in SCAD and may increase CVD risk. The objective was to assess differences in presentation, clinical factors, and outcomes in SCAD patients with migraines (M-SCAD) compared to those without, and determine M-SCAD prevalence. Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional observation study of patients with angiographically confirmed SCAD was conducted using the Mayo Clinic SCAD Registry. Participant-provided data and records were reviewed for migraine history, CVD risk factors, SCAD details, CVD and migraine therapies, and outcomes. Ordinal and nominal variables were compared using Pearson's chi squared test, and continuous variables were compared using Student's t-test. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: Among 586 patients with complete questionnaires, 236 had a history of migraines; the lifetime and 1-year prevalence of migraines were 40% and 27% respectively. Migraines are more common in SCAD survivors than a comparable population (40% vs 33%, p=0.0002). M-SCAD patients were more likely to be female (99.6% vs 94%, p=0.001), have SCAD at a younger age (45.3 yrs. vs 47.6 yrs., p=0.004), and report a history of aneurysms (7.6% vs 1.7%, p=0.0004), 46% of which occurred in head or neck vessels. There was a trend toward increased head and neck FMD in M-SCAD (32% vs 23%, p=0.095). Prevalence of depression (27% vs 17%, p=0.005), anxiety (32% vs 24%, p=0.038), recurrent angina (62% vs 44%, p=<0.001) and concern for recurrent SCAD (46% vs 37%, p=0.034) were higher in M-SCAD. Triptans were stopped in 39% of migraineurs at the time of MI. Conclusion: As compared to SCAD survivors without migraines, those with M-SCAD are younger, more often report a history of depression, anxiety, and aneurysms, and have more chest pain after SCAD. Further investigation into this association and development of safe, effective treatments of both headache and angina after SCAD is needed.

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