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Updated: May 12, 2026

3D-Neuronavigation In Vivo Through a Patient's Brain During a Spontaneous Migraine Headache
Published on: June 2, 2014
How aware are migraineurs of their triggers?
Filippo Baldacci1, Marcella Vedovello, Martina Ulivi
1Department of Neuroscience, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
Background:
Broad discrepancies in the number of migraine triggers have been reported in several studies. Migraineurs do not seem to recognize easily headache triggers in clinical practice.
Objective:
To evaluate how aware migraineurs are about their headache triggers.
Materials And Methods:
We recruited 120 consecutive migraineurs. Each patient was first asked to report spontaneously any migraine trigger. Subsequently, the patient selected from a list of commonly known triggers.
Results:
Ninety-seven patients (72.5%) spontaneously reported at least 1 migraine trigger, and 120 patients (100%) reported at least 1 migraine trigger selecting from a specific list of precipitants. The mean number of spontaneously identified triggers was 1.5 (±1.5), and the total number of triggers identified was 7.20 (±3.9).
Conclusions:
A relevant discrepancy between the number of spontaneously recognized triggers and the total number of triggers was found. This may suggest that migraineurs display poor awareness about headache triggers.
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