Key clinical point: Index vein served as a good biomarker for migraine aura with a high diagnostic specificity and sensitivity in the emergency setting in patients with acute neurological deficit.
Major finding: Prevalence of index vein was more frequent in patients with migraine aura (17%) vs those with stroke (2%)/epileptic seizure (4%) or control participants (1%; P < .001). Index vein was highly specific to migraine aura (specificity 97%; 95% CI 95%-99%), with an ability to diagnose migraine aura with 94% sensitivity (95% CI 87.4%-97.8%) and 73.5% specificity (95% CI 66.8%-79.5%) at a cut-off of 4 points.
Study details: This retrospective case-control study included 400 patients who presented to the emergency department with an acute neurological deficit, underwent brain magnetic resonance imaging, and were discharged with a diagnosis of migraine aura/ischemic stroke/epileptic seizure or none of these (control participants).
Disclosures: This study did not receive any specific funding. Two authors declared serving as part-time employees at Zynnon or as a consultant, speaker, or advisory board member for various sources.
Source: Scutelnic A et al. The “index vein” as a sign for migraine aura in the emergency setting. Cephalalgia. 2023 (Jan 9). Doi: 10.1177/033310242211320