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SYNOPSIS Migraine is a disease associated with increased platelet activity. The aim of this paper was to study "in vivo" platelet activation by assessing platelet serotonin (5HT) content and beta‐thromboglobulin (B‐TG) and platelet factor four (PF4) plasma levels, in headache‐free‐periods and during migraine attacks. In headache‐free‐periods, there was no differences in platelet 5HT values between migraine patients and control subjects. On the other hand, there were significant differences in B‐TG and PF4 plasma levels. Furthermore, two groups of migraine patients were observed, one with normal B‐TG plasma levels and the other with high B‐TG plasma levels. PF4 plasma levels behave similarly. During migraine attacks, platelet 5‐HT fell, while B‐TG and PF4 plasma levels rose, if compared to the values recorded immediately before attacks. We suggest that migraine patients, particularly those ones with high basal values of B‐TG and PF4 plasma levels, form a high risk group to cerebrovascular ischaemic diseases. For these patients a prophylaxis with antiplatelet drugs is indicated.
Andrea et al. (Wed,) studied this question.