Vertigo Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Vertigo, including details on causes, symptoms, treatment, dizziness.

Phenotypic and Genetic Analysis of a Large Family With Migraine-Associated Vertigo.

Lee H, Jen JC, Cha YH, Nelson SF, Baloh RW

Department of Human Genetics, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USA.

Objectives.- To describe a large multigenerational family with migraine-associated vertigo (MAV) combining a detailed phenotypic and genetic analysis. Background.- Migraine-associated vertigo is said to be highly prevalent in the general population and, like other migraine syndromes, its etiology is felt to have a strong genetic component. However, so far, there have been no reports of large families with MAV. Methods.- Detailed clinical study was conducted on a large multigenerational family with MAV. Genetic study using identical-by-descent analysis with dense single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays was performed to examine consistent inheritance pattern among the affecteds. Results.- Clinical features of MAV were variable although most had other migraine symptoms with at least some of their attacks. We did not find a region of the genome shared by all eight subjects with MAV indicating a polygenetic inheritance for MAV even in this single large family. Conclusions.- A region on 11q shared by most affected females may contain a susceptibility allele for MAV that is expressed exclusively or predominantly by women.

Published 17 December 2007 in Headache.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2005-2008 Vertigo Research Today. All Rights Reserved.