MR-tomographic assessment of hemodynamic and hydrodynamic characteristics in migraine patients

Purpose: The etiology of migraine headaches remains to be elucidated. We aimed to assess hemodynamic and hydrodynamic characteristic in migraine patients compared to healthy controls.

Methods and Materials: We examined 14 patients (age range 21–50 years) with clinically proven recurring migraine headaches and 12 healthy controls (age range 20–39 years) on a 3T MR with velocity-encoding phase contrast scans. Arterial inflow, venous outflow, and craniospinal CSF stroke volumes were measured and the intracranial pressure (MRICP) was derived from the ratio of the systolic intracranial volume change and pulse pressure gradient.

Results: Patients with Migraine had a significantly lower intracranial pressure when compared to the controls (7.4 vs.10.0; p<0.05). In addition CSF stroke volume tended to be lower in patients with migraine (0.55 vs. 0.72; p=0.58). Hemodynamic parameters did not show significant differences between the groups.

Conclusion: Intracranial pressure measured by MR was shown to be lower in migraine patients when compared to healthy controls which may be a potential parameter in explaining the disease etiology.