An observational study in Migraine Disorders and Vertigo, sponsored by Dr. med. Lukas Becker. Completed at 1 site in Germany. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-11-02.
Sponsored by Dr. med. Lukas Becker · Observational
In the study, the investigators would like to examine whether there is a difference between patients with vestibular migraine, patients with episodic or chronic migraine and healthy subjects in the examination of videonystagmography, which has been used for many years to differentiate and diagnose vertigo disorders. Accordingly, videonystagmography could also be discussed as an important diagnostic instrument for the diagnosis of the still young disease vestibular migraine.
Vestibular migraine is a young disorder that is caught between headache experts and vertigo experts. In 2012, the International Bárány Society for Neurootology and the International Headache Society were able to agree on a uniform definition and terminology for "vestibular migraine" in a jointly formulated consensus paper. A distinction is currently made between "definite" and "probable" vestibular migraine on the basis of the applicable diagnostic criteria. The diagnostic criteria are based on a study from 2001 with 75 patients and a follow-up period of 8 years, in which the diagnosis was confirmed in 84% of cases. At present the diagnostic criterion still requires the exclusion of another possible vestibular or ICHD diagnosis. Vestibular migraine is reported in the literature as the most common cause of spontaneous episodic vertigo attacks in adults and children. A manifestation is basically possible at any age. Despite the frequency of vestibular migraine and the sometimes pronounced level of suffering, the publication density is low and the diagnosis is mainly based on the patient medical history and clinical neurological examination. No specific instrumental diagnostic method or specific biomarkers that confirm or even prove the diagnosis are known. Larger studies with the intention of improving the diagnosis and thus achieving the expected reduction in the postulated high number of unreported cases have not yet been carried out. In the regular examination of patients with vertigo, videonystagmography with caloric testing is already an established and necessary examination procedure that is used to diagnose many different vertigo disorders. In the investigations, patients with confirmed vestibular migraine often show a vestibular hyperexcitability or increased caloric reaction not previously described in the literature. The investigators would like to verify this with this study. The investigators therefore developed the hypothesis of a possible correlation between a certain nystagmus frequency and/or certain speed of the slow phase of the nystagmus and the presence of a vestibular migraine. Comparisons with patients with headache migraine without accompanying vertigo symptoms and with a healthy control group should be carried out to test the hypothesis. First, all patients at the Dizziness Center at University Hospital Essen with diagnosed vestibular migraine without other conditions, except episodic or chronic migraine, were analyzed in the first quarter of 2023. This was followed by the inclusion of patients with episodic or chronic migraine and no vestibular migraine, standardized by age and gender, as well as the inclusion of a healthy control group without migraine headache and without vestibular migraine. Following that the collected data will be analyzed in particular the videonystagmography with caloric testing and the comparison of the groups.
1,657 studies on the registry are indexed under Migraine Disorders; 339 are open to participants now.
This study's enrollment of 175 is above the median of 137 across 331 observational studies indexed under Migraine Disorders.
Browse Migraine Disorders studies →This is the only study on the registry with Dr. med. Lukas Becker as lead sponsor.
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The sample of patients was recruited from the dizziness center of the University Hospital Essen. The patients with migraine were recruited partly from the headache center and partly via advertising. The healthy subjects were recruited through advertising.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Patients who received a diagnosis of vestibular migraine. Patients were included in the study retrospectively.
Diagnostic Test: Videonystagmography
Participants who received a diagnosis of episodic or chronic migraine without vestibular migraine. Participants were included in the study prospectively.
Diagnostic Test: Videonystagmography
Participants who not received a diagnosis of episodic or chronic migraine nor vestibular migraine. Participants were included in the study prospectively.
Diagnostic Test: Videonystagmography
In the regular examination of patients with vertigo, videonystagmography with thermal testing (caloric) is already an established and necessary examination procedure that is used to diagnose many different vertigo disorders.
mean comparison nystagmus frequency
Comparison of the mean between the group of patients with vestibular migraine and the patients and healthy participants in the mean nystagmus frequency within 30 seconds
Time frame: Mean of nystagmus frequency at study enrollment, Baseline
mean comparison GLP (speed of the slow phase) of nystagmus in °/s or sum of °/s
Comparison of the mean between the group of patients with vestibular migraine and the patients and healthy participants in the mean GLP of nystagmus in °/s or sum of °/s
Time frame: Mean of nystagmus GLP at study enrollment, Baseline
Comparison head impulse test (vHIT)
Comparison of the mean between the group of patients with vestibular migraine and the patients and healthy participants in the qualitativ analysis of the head impulse test
Time frame: result of head impulse test at study enrollment, Baseline
Plan to share: No — Disclosure of personal hospital data was not agreed in the ethics vote. The patient was informed with the indication that the data would not be passed on.
From the registry record's own update history. This site started tracking changes on Sep 25, 2026; for anything earlier, see the record history on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
This study is completed, as verified in Aug 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
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