1. Occipital transcranial magnetic stimulation discriminates transient neurological symptoms of vascular origin from migraine aura without headache.
- Author
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Naeije, Gilles, Fogang, Yannick, Ligot, Noémie, and Mavroudakis, Nicolas
- Subjects
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TRANSIENT ischemic attack , *CEREBRAL ischemia , *STROKE prevention , *TRANSCRANIAL magnetic stimulation , *MIGRAINE - Abstract
Summary Objectives The diagnosis of transient neurological attacks (TNA) relies on medical history. Transient ischemic attack is often considered until proven otherwise, because of lack of objective paraclinical tools that can help discriminate TIA from differential diagnoses such as migraine aura. This may lead to needless and potentially harmful stroke secondary prevention in many cases. This study aimed at determining the yield of occipital transcranial magnetic stimulation (oTMS) in discriminating TNA of vascular origin from migraine aura without headache (MAWH). Methods Ten patients with acute TNA of vascular origin and ten patients with migraine aura without headache (MAWH), without prior history of migrainous headache, were prospectively included. TNA of vascular origin were considered for individuals presenting unilateral focal symptoms with full resolution within 24 hours and positive diffusion weighted imaging (DWI+). For individuals with MAWH, diagnostic criteria were either ICHD-III beta or Fischer criteria for a first episode of MAWH. All participants underwent one session of oTMS. Induction and threshold of phosphene induction were recorded. Results In TNA of vascular origin, MRI disclosed cortical lesions in nine and one sub-cortical lesion. Phosphenes were induced in 9/10 subjects with MAWH with a mean threshold of 66% of the maximal intensity, whereas oTMS induced phosphenes in only one subject with TNA of vascular origin at a threshold of 85%. Conclusions In this pilot study, oTMS was found to be an effective tool to discriminate between MAWH and transient neurological symptoms of vascular origin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2017
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