Vestibular migraine (migraine-associated vertigo)

Abstract

　The history of clinical studies on vestibular migraine (migraine associated vertigo) was reviewed. Archeological studies suggested that headache itself had already existed in the Neolithic era, because bony defects in the skull which could have arisen from trepanation had been found in the remains of this era. Medical observations on migraine were made by Hippocrates of Kos, and Aretaeus of Kappadocia described migraine-associated vertigo in the 2^nd century A.D. Studies on migraine and migraine-associated vertigo (vestibular migraine) began in the modern era. As hypotheses on the pathophysiology of migraine, three theories have been proposed, including the vascular theory, the neural theory, and the trigemino-vascular theory. As important articles concerning the clinical studies, three papers were published. The first was published by Bickerstaff. He reported cases of basilar-type migraine, in which vertigo occurs as an aura of migrainous headache. The second was published by Kayan and Hood. In this paper, the authors described various characteristics of vestibular migraine, which are still valid. The third was published by Neuhauser et al., in which the authors proposed diagnostic criteria for vestibular migraine, which serve as the basis for the current official diagnostic criteria. Finally, the author remarked that clarification of the pathophysiology of vestibular migraine and association with Meniere's disease are the most important issues that need to be resolved.