A TALENTED university student died from complications caused by severe migraine attacks.

A rare combination of medical conditions caused the death of Nicola Hutchings, of Bolton.

An inquest in Leeds heard how pathologists were, at first, baffled by the sudden death of 19-year-old Nicola, of Boundary Drive, Bradley Fold.

Nicola, a second-year English and media student at Leeds University, was found dead in her room at Trinity and All Saints College, Horsforth, in August last year.

But initial tests revealed she had not died from a brain haemorrhage or an illness such as meningitis.

Giving evidence at the inquest, consultant neuro-pathologist Dr Leslie Bridges said it was only as a result of further tests that they concluded her death was related to migraine headaches she suffered from from the age of 13.

Dr Bridges explained that during a migraine, the blood vessels to the brain contract. This is not normally life threatening as an adequate blood supply can still get through.

But Nicola, in common with one-third of the population, had one of the blood vessels supplying her brain missing. When they contracted during a particularly bad migraine, not enough blood could get through.

Part of her brain was damaged, resulting in an electrical discharge which caused her heart to stop beating. "Two quite common conditions have conspired to create a rare complication of migraine," said Dr Bridges.

He told the court that the absence of such a blood vessel is not hereditary, the condition would not show up on a normal scan and, even if it had been found, there was no treatment for it.

He added that no anti-migraine medication Nicola might have been prescribed could have ruled out the possibility of an attack.

Dr Bridges said Nicola's death due to the two conditions could not have been foreseen.

"It was such a rare, possibly unique event -- no-one would have considered linking the two," he said.

Coroner David Hinchliff heard how the day before her death, Nicola had been accompanying a group of Japanese students on a day trip to Edinburgh. She began to have a headache and when the group got back to Leeds, she declined an invitation to go for a takeaway with friends and went to bed.

The following morning, when she did not appear at breakfast, friends went to find her and discovered her dead in her room.

Mr Hinchliff recorded a verdict of death by natural causes. Nicola's mother, Mrs Shelia Hutchings, declined to comment following the inquest.