Some clinical comparisons between common and classical migraine: a questionnaire-based study

Area of Science:

• Neurology
• Clinical Medicine

Background:

• Migraine is a common neurological disorder.
• Distinguishing between migraine with aura (classical) and migraine without aura (common) is important for understanding its varied presentations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To compare the clinical features of classical migraine and common migraine.
• To identify any significant differences in attack characteristics, triggers, and patient history between the two migraine types.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire-based study was conducted.
• 354 patients with classical migraine and 397 patients with common migraine were recruited from The Princess Margaret Migraine Clinic.
• Clinical features, attack characteristics, triggers, and patient history were compared between the two groups.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were found in attack frequency, duration, onset time, location, severity, nausea, or vomiting between classical and common migraine.
• Common migraine attacks were more likely to occur on weekends (p = 0.002).
• Dietary triggers were more prevalent in classical migraine, while pregnancy and menstrual cycle affected both equally. Classical migraine patients had a higher incidence of hypertension and a slight tendency towards depression.

Conclusions:

• Classical migraine and common migraine exhibit fundamentally similar clinical characteristics.
• The presence of aura has minimal influence on the overall clinical features of a migraine attack.
• Weekend occurrence is a distinguishing feature for common migraine attacks.