TV Broadcaster Serene Branson Had 'Complex Migraine,' Not a Stroke

By Tracey Harrington McCoy Posted Feb 17th 2011 08:20PM

Originally thought to have suffered an on-air stroke, CBS 2 TV reporter Serene Branson actually had a "complex migraine," her doctor said, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Branson was reporting live from the Grammys on Sunday when her speech became unintelligible and she became disoriented. Video of the event immediately went viral, and doctors around the country soon began speculating the cause of her confusion and garbled speech. Many thought she'd suffered a stroke.

But Dr. Neil Martin, Branson's physician and chief of neurosurgery at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, said it was a symptom of a "complex migraine." The symptoms for that specific type of migraines are similar to small strokes and commonly misdiagnosed.

Soon after the now famous broadcast, Branson was reportedly feeling better. She was examined by paramedics and sent home to rest. She is doing well and is eager to return to work. Her local station said Branson "wants us to know she followed-up with a visit to the doctor for some medical tests. [She] thanks everyone for their concern and good wishes and hopes to be back on the air very soon."

Tags: Grammys, Serene branson

Comments

(14)

Thursday 17 February

By hank

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I suspect a mild epileptic seizure numbed down with regular meds.

By Lori

Yes something....what is this migrane thing? I have never heard of such a thing...I hope she is ok but I don't believe it.

By JBaer

I'm glad it wasn't a stroke after all. Of course, some people will still insist it was, and that she has no business being on TV to begin with.

By BJV

I agree- there's more to this-she obviously does'nt want to lose her job. Hope she's okay.

By Amy

The article stated that the paramedics checked her out and sent her home . If they had thought it to be serious I don't think they would have sent her home . This is really strange .

By Shelly

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My friend was diagnosed with this 3 years ago. I had never heard of it and they initially thought she was having mini strokes. She would be paralysed on one side of her body. Fortunately, after 2 years, they were finally able to get her medication right so it wasn't happening. I wish her well, it is a scary situation.

By homeexperts

Who are they kidding??? She doesn't want negative publicity to get out. Three very eminent dotors in this field watched the tape of Serene and all agreed that there is something serious going on...Migraine..pleeeeezzz do you think we are all idiots...Since when does a girl act and look normal and then have a sudden terrible problem with her coherence and speech...

By Sandi

I suspected that it might have been from a migraine, I had the same thing happen when I was pregnant, my husband thought I was having a stroke because my speech was jumbled and I had numbness in my right hand and my tongue. After a trip to the ER and seeing a specialist, he informed me I had a migraine and if I had those symptoms again, I would need to see a neurologist. That was 24 years ago, and I never had that happen again.

By Polk Salad Annie

I am a regular viewer of CBS news and I have seen that same disoriented look on Serene Branson's face before. I've wondered why she always looks startled or spaced out. Migraine? I doubt it. Seizure? Probably. The pipe? Hope not. Something, however, is definitely going on with her that we don't know about. When I first saw this clip I was reminded of when the late Jessica Savitch did the same thing on the air.

Friday 25 February

By LizHI

I have suffered "ocular migraines" for the past 20 years - visual disturbances, but no actual headache. On two separate occasions when experiencing ocular migraines, I lost my ability to speak clearly and coherently, and on one occasion I lost track of time for about 45 minutes. Although both situations were very frightening, follow up tests, including an MRI showed nothing abnormal. When I heard of this reporter's symptoms, and listened to the video, I suspected she may have experienced a similar event. Happy to hear she is doing fine. I have had no lingering problems whatsoever.

Friday 18 February

By Scot Brandon

You don't understand it was simply a blonde moment.
Trust me, only atlbhealr hahe tbhe

I understood everything she said

By CMD

My Husband of 26 years gets migraines exactly like the ones described. He gets tunnel vision, auras, confusion and will talk jibberish during one of his "Bad" headaches. He is rendered debilitated until all these symptoms and the headache subside. It still scares me watching him go through this after all this time. I really sympathize with this young Lady!

By tlw

I was misdiagnosed with this two years ago. I was only 39 so they thought I couldn't have had a stroke. Upon closer examination of my mri it was determined I had a tear in my artery which caused a blood clot to form. So I did have a stroke. I pray that this is not the case with this reporter.

Monday 21 February

By 651367

People please remember you are not a medical doctor. Second, there are many different types of migraines. Percy Harvin with the Minnesota Vikings suffers from migraines as do/did many other famous and not so famous people. We try to live as normal as possible, but migraines affect us all differently. And what seems to prevent migraines in one person does no good for another. What stops a migraine for one person does not stop the migraine for others. I am happy that Serene Branson is able to maintain a high stress job with her migraine headache. Good Luck Serene!

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