White matter changes in migraine

A new paper, White matter changes in chronic and episodic migraine: a diffusion tensor imaging study, written by Álvaro Planchuelo-Gómez, Santiago Aja-Fernández and Rodrigo de Luis-García, in colaboration with the Headache Unit and the Deparment of Radiology of the Clinical Hospital of Valladolid, has been published in the Journal of Headache and Pain. Diffusion-weighted MRI data from healthy controls, episodic migraine and chronic migraine patients were compared.

In this article, global white matter differences between chronic and episodic migraine have been found for the first time using Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI) measures and Tract-Based Spatial Statistics (TBSS). Significant positive correlation was found between time from onset of chronic migraine and mean fractional anisotropy in the bilateral external capsule, and significant negative correlation between time from onset of chronic migraine and mean radial diffusivity in the same regions.

Our findings suggest axonal integrity impairment in the first months of chronic migraine, with respect to episodic migraine, and a posterior set of maladaptive white matter plastic changes in chronic migraine. According to our hypothesis, the transition from episodic to chronic migraine may be characterized by low fiber-packing density, loss of white matter integrity and axonal damage.

The article is available in (Open Access): https://thejournalofheadacheandpain.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s...