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Various theories depending on vasospasm or hypoperfusion in migraine and glaucoma etiologies and remarkable coexistence of both diseases in some series inspire a common pathway in the pathogenesis of both diseases. Higher prevalances of migraine compared to the normal population have been reported, either significant or nonsignificant, among glaucoma patients. In this study, in a reverse style, we aimed to investigate the frequency of glaucoma in patients with migraine and tension type headache, and a control group. Consecutive, otherwise healthy 125 patients with migraine, 106 patients with tension headache and age and sex matched 86 control subjects (mean ages: 36.38±10.20, 37.27±15.10 and 35.05±11.35 respectively) without headache complaints constituted the study groups. All subjects underwent an ophthalmological examination. We detected glaucoma prevalences of 5.6%, 2.83% and 2.33% in migraine, tension type headache and control groups respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between group pairs and overall in respect to glaucoma prevalences. It should be pointed out that the drugs used to treat migraine produce vasoconstriction (e.g., ergotamines) and in studies that show significant correlations between glaucoma and migraine, it should be reconsidered if these drugs play a role in the high glaucoma prevalences. Wider and focused migraine and glaucoma series may provide more reliable results. Controlled studies with ergotamines and vasoconstrictive drugs are recommended to clarify their role in particularly low tension glaucoma pathogenesis. |
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