[Cerebral angiography in complicated migraine--reactions, incidents]

Seventy-one patients (ages: 15-58 years) suffering from complicated migraine were investigated by means of cerebral angiography which was not performed during an attack. Angiography was carried out to exclude stenoses or occlusions of the cranio-cervical vessels and above all vascular malformations (arterial aneurysms, arteriovenous angiomas). In 18 cases (25.4%) organic lesions were found, including three vessel malformations (4.2%). Thirty-one patients (43.7%) suffered from headache reactions or other complications during or within 24 h following angiography. In 15 cases (21.1%) attacks of complicated migraine were observed, three patients (4.2%) suffered from headache and bilateral flickering visual disturbances, another 11 patients (15.5%) developed headache and vegetative symptoms requiring therapeutic management. One patient (1.4%) got an epileptic seizure, another patient (1.4%) developed a generalized urticaria exanthema. There were more headache reactions in women than in men. However, the highest percentage of reactions was observed in patients in whom migraine headache had occurred clearly set off from the transient cerebral functional disturbances. Neurological complications (transient functional disturbances) occurred in 16 of 71 patients (22.5%). The neurological complication rate was significantly (P less than 0.001) higher than that in an unselected group of patients (3.0%).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)