Abstract
Introduction: Patients with migraines, particularly those with auras,
may present with stroke. Atrial fibrillation is a known risk factor for
stroke. With common pathophysiological factors between migraines and
atrial fibrillation, we aimed to clarify the association between
migraine and atrial fibrillation in this systematic review and
meta-analysis. Materials and Methods: A literature search was conducted
in EMBASE, PubMed, Scopus and Cochrane electronic bibliographic
databases from inception to 14th June 2021 with the following inclusion
criteria: (1) cohort or cross-sectional studies, (2) patients ≥
18-years-old, (3) studies examining association between atrial
fibrillation and migraines. Exclusion criteria were case-control
studies, studies including patients with prior diagnosis of atrial
fibrillation or non-migrainous headache. The Newcastle Ottawa Scale was
used to assess the quality of studies. Results: 6 studies were
included, demonstrating a 1.61% (95% CI 0.51, 3.29) pooled prevalence
of atrial fibrillation in migraine with aura and 1.32% (95% CI 0.17,
3.41) in migraine without aura. The total prevalence of atrial
fibrillation in migraine was 1.39% (95% CI 0.24, 3.46) overall.
Conclusion: Overall, there was a higher prevalence of atrial
fibrillation in migraine with aura compared to migraine without aura.
Prevalence of atrial fibrillation in migraine patients was low.