Migraine with aura identified as independent risk factor for A-fib

Patients with migraine with aura (MwA) have significantly higher artificial intelligence-enabled electrocardiogram (AI-ECG) atrial fibrillation (AF) prediction model output, according to a study published online June 8 in Headache.

Chia-Chun Chiang, M.D., from the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, and colleagues compared AI-ECG AF prediction model output in adult patients with MwA and migraine without aura (MwoA). Adult patients with an MwA or MwoA diagnosis and at least one ECG with normal sinus rhythm within the past 20 years were identified. A total of 40,002 patients (17,840 with MwA and 22,162 with MwoA) were included in the final analysis.

The researchers found that compared with the MwoA group, the MwA group had significantly higher AF prediction model output (mean, 7.3 versus 5.6 percent). The difference between the MwA and MwoA groups remained significant after adjustment for vascular comorbidities in the overall group and among those aged 18 to <35 years and 35 to <55 years, women of all ages, men of all ages, women aged 35 to <55 years, and men aged 18 to <35 years.

"Our results suggest MwA is an independent risk factor for AF, especially in patients <55 years old, and that AF-mediated cardioembolism may play an important role in the migraine-stroke association," the authors write.

Several authors disclosed financial ties to the pharmaceutical industry.

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