P-296: Headache may indicate the presence of arterial stiffness in the general population; the J-Shipp study

Abstract

Headache has been reported to be associated with ischemic stroke. It is also revealed that a MRI proved brain infarction was significantly associated with history of headache. Although, the changes in intracranial vascular property were hypothesized in patients with headache, the association between headache and arterial stiffness remains controversial. To address these issues, we investigated the association of augmentation index (AIx), one of the accepted indices of arterial stiffness, with headache in community-dwelling elderly subjects.

The study subjects consisted of 93 elderly persons (68±6 y.o., 12% of male) free from any history or symptoms of cardiovascular diseases and not under medication. The AIx was obtained from radial pressure waveform measured by applanation tonometric device (HEM-9010AI, OMRON HEALTHCARE Co., Ltd. Japan). Headache was diagnosed and classified by a neurologist using the semistructural questionnaire.

Among 31 subjects with headache, 21 cases were classified as vascular headache. Between the subjects with or without headache, no significant association was observed in age (67±5 vs. 68±6 y.o., p=0.885), gender (12.7 vs. 9.7% of male, p=0.467), systolic blood pressure (134±15 vs. 138±30 mmHg, p=0.377), and pulse pressure (72±8 vs. 73±9 mmHg, p=0.628). However AIx was significantly higher in subjects with headache (93±12 vs. 86±12 %, p=0.020), especially in subjects with vascular headache (95±13 %, p=0.031).

These results indicate that the headache, especially vascular headache, could be a potent predictor of advanced arterial stiffness.

Aaugmentation Index, Arterial Stiffness, Headache