1/ Like a breeze 🌬 precedes a storm ⛈, the aura usually precedes the headache in up to 60 min.
But not always.
It can also:
- Occurs alone, not followed by any headache
- Occurs during the headache episode
2/ 👀 Visual symptoms are the most common. They occur in over 90% of patients with migraine with aura, are bilateral and can be either positive (scintillations, flashes, etc.) or negative (like scotomas).
3/ One common visual aura symptom is the fortification spectrum. It consists of zigzag ⦚⦚ lines that gradually enlarges and can either be colored 🌈 or black-and-white 🦓.
4/ Interesting fact: the name fortification spectrum comes from the resemblance to a medieval fortress 🏰.
5/ ⌛️If you are curious about how an aura can be, you can look at Dr. Hubert Airy’s drawings. He is a 19th-century physician who became famous as one of the first to document his auras episodes by drawing them (full link below).
7/ 📚References (3/3)
- Headache Classification Committee of the International Headache Society (IHS) The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition. Cephalalgia. 2018;38(1):1-211. doi:10.1177/0333102417738202
1/❓But first, a question:
A 28-year-old woman with migraine without aura has 2 attacks/month lasting 8h, and her episodes are relieved by NSAIDs. Would you prescribe her a preventive migraine treatment?
2/❓Let’s suppose the same person has hemiplegic migraine with 1 attack/year. Would you treat her?