Objectives: To describe a large multigenerational family with migraine-associated vertigo (MAV) combining a detailed phenotypic and genetic analysis.
Background: Migraine-associated vertigo is said to be highly prevalent in the general population and, like other migraine syndromes, its etiology is felt to have a strong genetic component. However, so far, there have been no reports of large families with MAV.
Methods: Detailed clinical study was conducted on a large multigenerational family with MAV. Genetic study using identical-by-descent analysis with dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays was performed to examine consistent inheritance pattern among the affecteds.
Results: Clinical features of MAV were variable although most had other migraine symptoms with at least some of their attacks. We did not find a region of the genome shared by all eight subjects with MAV indicating a polygenetic inheritance for MAV even in this single large family.
Conclusions: A region on 11q shared by most affected females may contain a susceptibility allele for MAV that is expressed exclusively or predominantly by women.