Characteristics and prevalence of transient visual disturbances indicative of migraine visual aura

The objective of this study was to estimate the prevalence of and to compare the characteristics of transient visual disturbances (TVDs) of possible migraine origin in a clinical and a general population. Data were obtained in interviews from 100 consecutive female migraine patients (17-69 years) and 245 women (40-75 years) from the general population. The lifetime prevalences were 37% and 13%, respectively. We did not detect any differences in characteristics of TVDs between patients and women in the general population. A gradual onset of five or more minutes was stated by as few as 45% and 46%, respectively. The typical headache phase in conjunction with a TVD had more migrainous features in patients. We conclude from our data that the TVDs in this study, which do not fulfill the IHS criteria for migraine with aura, more likely represent poorly described or abortive migraine phenomena, rather than phenomena of other origin.