A latest study has found that migraine has long-lasting effects on the brain that effectively change brain structure. What’s more, these changes are visible under an MRI scan.
“In individuals with chronic migraine and episodic migraine without aura, there are significant changes within the perivascular spaces of a brain region called the centrum semiovale,” study co-author Wilson Xu, Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, said, reported NewsMedical. “These changes have never been reported before.”
The outcomes of the study are reported to be presented on the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).
Migraine is a condition characterised by an intense recurring headache. Other symptoms may include nausea, weakness, and light-weight sensitivity. Migraine is a quite common problem that many individuals suffer from. Based on the American Migraine Foundation, over 37 million people within the U.S. have migraine conditions, and as much as 148 million people around the globe suffer from chronic migraine, reported MedicalDialogue.
Perivascular spaces are fluid-filled cavities that surround blood vessels within the brain. They’re mostly present in the basal ganglia and white matter of the cerebrum, in addition to along the optic tract. Centrum semiovale is the central a part of white matter and white matter hyperintensity is the lesion that “lights up” on MRI.
Several aspects akin to abnormal conditions on the blood-brain barrier and inflammation can affect perivascular spaces. Enlarged perivascular spaces, specifically, may indicate small vessel disease.
“Perivascular spaces are a part of a fluid clearance system within the brain,” Xu explained. “Studying how they contribute to migraine could help us higher understand the complexities of how migraines occur.”
The researchers used ultra-high-field 7T MRI to discern structural minute changes within the brain during various kinds of migraine.
“To our knowledge, that is the primary study using ultra-high-resolution MRI to review microvascular changes within the brain resulting from migraine, particularly in perivascular spaces,” Xu said. “Because 7T MRI is capable of create images of the brain with much higher resolution and higher quality than other MRI types, it may well be used to exhibit much smaller changes that occur in brain tissue after a migraine.”
Participants within the study included 10 chronic migraine patients, 10 episodic migraines without aura patients, and five healthy controls with similar ages. All of the participants were between 25 and 60 years old. Special attention was paid to avoiding patients with overt cognitive impairment, brain tumors, prior intracranial surgery, MRI contraindications, and claustrophobia within the study.
Statistical evaluation found that the variety of enlarged perivascular spaces within the centrum semiovale was more pronounced in patients with migraine in comparison with healthy controls. Also, the amount of enlarged perivascular space within the centrum semiovale was in proportion to white matter hyperintensity severity in migraine patients.
“We studied chronic migraine and episodic migraine without aura and located that, for each forms of migraine, perivascular spaces were larger within the centrum semiovale,” Xu said. “Although we didn’t find any significant changes within the severity of white matter lesions in patients with and without migraine, these white matter lesions were significantly linked to the presence of enlarged perivascular spaces. This implies that changes in perivascular spaces could lead on to the longer term development of more white matter lesions.”
Xu believes that their study “could help encourage future, larger-scale studies to proceed investigating how changes within the brain’s microscopic vessels and blood supply contribute to different migraine types.” The top goal is that the study “could help us develop latest, personalized ways to diagnose and treat migraine.”
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