ABSTRACT
HEADACHE AND NEUROLOGICAL SYMPTOMS IN PREGNANCY In a prospective study of 1631 pregnant women attending Trondhein Hospital from May 1997 to June 1998, 410 women suffered frommigraine and, 856 from non-migrainous headache, of which 80% were diagnosed as tension-type headache (46). Eighty-six patients who had a diagnosis of non-migrainous headache prior to pregnancy fulfilled the criteria for migraine during pregnancy. A total of 41 patients, from this cohort, were investigated for transient focal neurological deficits. This included magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), cardiac investigations and blood screen for a prothrombotic tendency either during pregnancy or after delivery (all MRIs were done after delivery). A control group of 41 women from the 1631 patient cohort had similar investigations except MRI. Patients and controls were contacted yearly for 5 years by mailed questionnaire asking whether they had developed any medical disorder during the past year. Data on headache, aura and medication use over each year were also collated.
