ArticleEuropean journal of neurology2021
Migraine prevalence in visual snow with prior illicit drug use (hallucinogen persisting perception disorder) versus without.
Article in European journal of neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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Who cites it
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Visual Snow Syndrome as a Network Disorder: A Systematic Review.Frontiers in neurology · 2021Pooled it
- Visual snow syndrome as a neuropsychiatric network disorder: clinical features, mechanisms, and therapeutic perspectives.Journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Learnings from familial visual snow syndrome: A case series.Headache · 2026Article
- Exploring novel therapeutic strategies: Could psychedelic perspectives offer promising solutions for Alzheimer's disease comorbidities?Dialogues in clinical neuroscience · 2025Review
- Assessment of a novel patient reported outcome measure for visual snow syndrome: the Colorado visual snow survey 2.0.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Visual Snow Syndrome is unstable: A longitudinal investigation of VSS symptoms in a Naïve population.Annals of clinical and translational neurology · 2024Article
- Visual snow syndrome in patients with migraine: widening the clinical spectrum of the syndrome with permanent and episodic manifestations.Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology · 2024Observational
- How do I recognise and manage visual snow syndrome?Eye (London, England) · 2024Review
- What does visual snow look like? Quantification by matching a simulation.Journal of vision · 2024Article
- Visual Snow Syndrome in Patient with Migraine: Case Report and Literature Review.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Visual snow syndrome and migraine: a review.Eye (London, England) · 2023Review
- Visual Snow: A Review on Pathophysiology and Treatment.Journal of clinical medicine · 2023Review
- Differential Diagnosis of Visual Phenomena Associated with Migraine: Spotlight on Aura and Visual Snow Syndrome.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- SimultaneousEJNMMI research · 2022Article
- Not All Cases of Visual Snows are Benign: Mimics of Visual Snow Syndrome.Neuropsychiatric disease and treatment · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
background and purposeThis study was undertaken to investigate migraine prevalence in persons with hallucinogen persisting perception disorder (HPPD) presenting as visual snow syndrome (VSS).
methodsPersons with visual snow as a persisting symptom after illicit drug use (HPPD) were recruited via a Dutch consulting clinic for recreational drug use. A structured interview on (visual) perceptual symptomatology, details of drugs use, and medical and headache history was taken. As a control group, persons with visual snow who had never used illicit drugs prior to onset were included. The primary outcome was lifetime prevalence of migraine. Symptom severity was evaluated by the Visual Snow Handicap Inventory (VHI), a 25-item questionnaire.
resultsNone of the 24 HPPD participants had migraine, whereas 20 of 37 (54.1%) controls had migraine (p < 0.001). VHI scores did not differ significantly between the two groups; in both groups, the median score was 38 of 100. In most HPPD cases (17/24, 70.9%), visual snow had started after intake of ecstasy; other psychedelic drugs reported included cannabis, psilocybin mushrooms, amphetamine, 4-fluoroamphetamine, 3-methylmethcathinone, 4-Bromo-2,5-dimethoxypenethylamine, and nitrous oxide.
conclusionsWhereas none of the HPPD participants had migraine, more than half of the visual snow controls without prior use of illicit drugs had migraine. This suggests that at least partly different pathophysiological factors play a role in these disorders. Users of ecstasy and other hallucinogens should be warned of the risk of visual snow. Further studies are needed to enhance understanding of the underlying neurobiology of HPPD and VSS to enable better management of these conditions.
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