The following is a summary of “Endometriosis and the diagnosis of different forms of migraine: an association with dysmenorrhoea,” published in the July 2023 issue of Reproductive BioMedicine Online by Pasquini et al.
Women with endometriosis often suffer from headaches. How many of these are diagnosed with migraine? Are the various varieties of migraine associated with the phenotypes and traits of endometriosis? This was a prospective case-control study with nesting. A series of 131 women with endometriosis who visited an endometriosis clinic were enrolled and screened for headaches. A headache questionnaire was used to ascertain the characteristics of the headaches, and a specialist confirmed the diagnosis of migraine.
The case group consisted of women with endometriosis and a migraine diagnosis, whereas the control group consisted of women with endometriosis alone. The patient’s history, symptoms, and other comorbidities were recorded. A pelvic pain score and related symptoms were evaluated using a visual analog scale. Migraine was diagnosed in 53.4% (70/131) of the participants. Menstrually pure migraine was reported by 18.6% (13/70), menstrually related migraine was reported by 45.7% (32/70), and non-menstrual migraine was reported by 35.5% (25/70). Patients with endometriosis and migraine had substantially higher rates of dysmenorrhea and dysuria than those without migraine (P = 0.03 and P = 0.01).
Other variables, including age at diagnosis and duration of endometriosis, endometriosis phenotype, the presence of other autoimmune comorbidities, and excessive menstrual bleeding, were not significantly different. In 85.7% of patients with migraine, headache symptoms began years before the endometriosis diagnosis. The occurrence of headaches in many patients with endometriosis is associated with various forms of migraine, is related to pain symptoms, and frequently occurs before the diagnosis of endometriosis.
Source: sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1472648323002079
