We investigated the state of inflammation, PTX3 level and other routine inflammatory markers (high sensitivity C-reactive protein [hsCRP], and white blood cells [WBC]), in patients who presented to the emergency department (ED) with migraine. We also investigated the relationship between the clinical presentation, PTX3 level, and other routine inflammatory markers in the emergency management of these patients.

The study included 44 patients (group 1) who presented to the ED due to a migraine attack with aura and 44 controls (group 2) with similar demographic characteristics.

The WBC count was 8.82 ± 2.10 × 109/L in group 1 and 7.85 ± 2.04 × 109/L in group 2. The mean PTX3 level was 11.57 ± 3.99 ng/mL in patients who presented at the ED with a migraine attack, and 4.59 ± 1.28 ng/mL in controls. The differences values of WBC and PTX3 between the two groups were significant (respectively; P = 0.031, P < 0.001). ROC analyses indicated significant results for PTX3 as a marker for acute migraine attack. It had a sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 84% at a cut-off value of 5.80 ng/mL.

This is the first study to investigate plasma levels of PTX3 in patients with acute migraine. PTX3 as a biomarker may be used as an additional examination to the current subjective criteria to support the diagnosis of patients presenting to the ED with an acute migraine attack.