1 Department of Neurology, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
2 Medical Image Analysis Center, University Hospital Basel, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Cephalalgia. 2019 Apr;39(5):665-673. doi: 10.1177/0333102418795163. Epub 2018 Dec 10.
Several previous studies have investigated cortical abnormalities, specifically cortical thickness, in patients with migraine, with variable results. The relatively small sample sizes of most previous studies may partially explain these inconsistencies.
To investigate differences of cortical thickness between control subjects and migraineurs in a large cohort.
Three Tesla MRI data of 131 patients (38 with and 93 without aura) and 115 control subjects were analysed. A vertex-wise linear model was applied controlling for age, gender and MRI scanner to investigate differences between groups and determine the impact of clinical factors on cortical thickness measures.
Migraineurs showed areas of thinned cortex compared with controls bilaterally in the central sulcus, in the left middle-frontal gyrus, in left visual cortices and the right occipito-temporal gyrus. Frequency of migraine attacks and the duration of the disorder had a significant impact on cortical thickness in the sensorimotor cortex and middle-frontal gyrus. Patients without aura showed thinner cortex than controls bilaterally in the central sulcus and in the middle frontal gyrus, in the left primary visual cortices, in the left supramarginal gyrus and in the right cuneus. Patients with aura showed clusters of thinner cortex bilaterally in the subparietal sulcus (between the precuneus and posterior cingulate cortex), in the left intraparietal sulcus and in the right anterior cingulate.
These results indicate cortical abnormalities in specific brain regions in migraineurs. Some of the observed abnormalities may reflect a genetic susceptibility towards developing migraine attacks, while others are probably a consequence of repeated head pain attacks.
几项先前的研究调查了偏头痛患者的皮质异常，特别是皮质厚度，结果各不相同。大多数先前研究的样本量相对较小，这可能部分解释了这些不一致。
在一个大样本中研究皮质厚度在对照组和偏头痛患者之间的差异。
对 131 名患者（38 名有先兆和 93 名无先兆）和 115 名对照者的 3 特斯拉 MRI 数据进行了分析。应用顶点线性模型，在控制年龄、性别和 MRI 扫描仪的情况下，研究组间差异，并确定临床因素对皮质厚度测量的影响。
偏头痛患者与对照组相比，双侧中央沟、左侧中额回、左侧视觉皮质和右侧枕颞回皮质变薄。偏头痛发作频率和疾病持续时间对感觉运动皮质和中额回的皮质厚度有显著影响。无先兆偏头痛患者双侧中央沟和中额回、左侧初级视觉皮质、左侧缘上回和右侧楔前回皮质变薄。有先兆偏头痛患者双侧顶下沟（后扣带回和顶内沟之间）、左侧顶内沟和右侧前扣带回皮质变薄。
这些结果表明偏头痛患者存在特定脑区的皮质异常。一些观察到的异常可能反映了对偏头痛发作的遗传易感性，而另一些则可能是反复头痛发作的结果。
