The prevalence of papilledema in patients with migraine: a crucial cooccurrence of migraine and idiopathic intracranial hypertension

Abstract

Objective We aimed to investigate the prevalence of idiopathic intracranial hypertension (IIH) in patients with migraine by screening for papilledema. Materials and methods We have included all the patients with migraine who applied to our neurology clinic during December 2019 and accepted to participate in the study. The demographic and clinical characteristics including migraine subtype (episodic/chronic), headache frequency per month, and headache characteristics of all patients were interrogated. Besides, the presence of fibromyalgia (FM) and chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) was noted. Fundus examination was performed in all of the patients and the presence of papilledema was noted. Results Overall, 158 consecutive migraineurs were included in this study. The mean age of the group was 35.9 +/- 9.9 and the female/male ratio was 134/24. Papilledema was determined in 10 (6%) patients. There was a past medical history of having IIH in one of these patients. In four of the patients, the diagnosis of IIH was newly established. Comparative analyses between episodic migraineurs and chronic migraineurs revealed that female gender was more prevalent in chronic migraineurs (p = 0.00) and the comorbidities of FM and CFS were more common in chronic migraineurs. Remarkably, papilledema was found to be more common in chronic migraineurs. The results of the logistic regression analyses revealed that obesity was the only predictor for the presence of papilledema (p = 0.014). Conclusion Our results may suggest that IIH should be kept in mind as a notable comorbidity in migraineurs, particularly in the subgroup of obese patients with chronic migraine.