Association Of Migraine And White Matter Lesions

Background and PurposeMigraine is a common neurologic disoder,affecting about 10%-15% of the general population.Many previous studies have demonstrated that migraine has association with brain lesions,especially white matter hyperintensities(WMHs).However,the relationship between migraine and WMH locations is controversial.Therefore,we conduct the present study to investigate the association between these two as well as WMHs locations in a case-control study.MethodsA matched(1:1)case-control study was conducted.Cases were prospectively recruited from the out-patient or in-patient according to diagnosis criteria of Migraine with or without aura.History,clinical data and imaging data including WMHs were collected among cases and controls.WMHs were assessed using the Fazekas scale and Age-Related White Matter Changes(ARWMC)visual grading scale.The association between migraine and prevalence of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)–measured white matter hyperintensities(WMHs)and WMH locations was investigated by using Chi-Square test.ResultsAltogether 133 migraine patients were investigated in the study(meidan age 40 years;),and 133 female age-matched control subjects(median age 40 years,p=0.791).The prevalence and severity of WMH which were assessed by Fazekas(p<0.01)and ARWMC(p<0.001)were significantly associated with migraine.Moreover,compared with control,it showed a significant association between the deep WMHs(DWMHs)(P=0.003),the frontal lobe(P=0.001)and migraine.However,there is no statistical significance in periventricular WMHs(PWMHs)(p=0.304),parieto-occipital(p=0.088),temporal(p=0.210),basal ganglia,and infratentorial(p=0.542)region.The severity of WMH in frontal lobe(p=0.033)and deep white matters(p=0.032)is statistically different among disease duration 1-10 years group,11-20 years group and ≥21 years group.ConclusionsMigraine correlates with higher prevalence of magnetic resonance imaging(MRI)–measured white matter hyperintensities in the brain,especially in the frontal areas and deep white matters.Furthermore,the severity of WMH in frontal lobe and deep white matters is related to disease duration of migraine.