Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations and migraine: a new vision.

ABSTRACT

Migraine is a common neurological disorder with a great impact on the quality of life and social activities. Pulmonary arteriovenous malformations (PAVMs) are mostly congenital, with a prevalence of 5-50% in patients with hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia (HHT). A high prevalence of PAVMs is found in patients with HHT and migraine. Embolization of PAVMs seems to decrease the prevalence of migraine. Different pathophysiological hypotheses have been proposed to explain the association between migraine and the different right-to-left shunts. This review article describes the association between a pulmonary right-to-left shunt and the occurrence of migraine.