This pilot study was aimed at developing an objective method to diagnose migraine by measuring the difference in vasomotor reactivity between migraineurs and non-migraineurs. Thirty patients diagnosed with migraine without aura and 30 healthy patients were recruited. Vasomotor reactivity of all patients was then assessed by measuring the breath holding index (BHI), hyperventilation index and a novel formula, the migraine vascular index (MVI), of the middle cerebral artery using transcranial Doppler ultrasonography. Migraineurs were found to have significantly lower BHI and MVI values (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis revealed that MVI was a significant independent predictor of migraine (p = 0.007). The sensitivity and specificity of MVI in diagnosing migraine with a cutoff value of 1.035 were 86.7% and 86.7%, respectively. In conclusion, MVI measurement is a reliable method for objectively diagnosing migraine. Further research is needed to validate the usage of MVI for migraine diagnosis.
Keywords: Breath holding index; Diagnosis; Hyperventilation index; Migraine; Migraine vascular index; Transcranial Doppler ultrasonography.
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