The Characteristics of White Matter Hyperintensities in Patients With Migraine

Abstract BackgroundThe presence of white matter hyperintensities (WMH) in migraine is well-documented, but the location of brain WMH in patients with migraine are insufficiently researched. Although recent semi-automatic software packages have been developed for calculating WMH, visual inspection remains the gold standard for measuring WMH. The goal of this study was to assess WMH in patients with migraine using a modified version of the Scheltens visual rating scale, a semiquantitative scale for categorizing WMH in the following brain regions: periventricular, lobar (frontal, temporal, parietal, occipital), basal ganglia, and infratentorial regions.Methods263 patients with migraine (31 male/232 female; mean age: 48.0) who were enrolled in the American Registry for Migraine Research from Mayo Clinic with a diagnosis of episodic (n = 46; 17.5%) or chronic migraine (n = 217; 82.5%) and who had brain magnetic resonance imaging were included in this study. Those with imaging evidence for gross anatomical abnormalities other than WMH were excluded. WMH were identified on axial T2 and FLAIR sequences by a board certified neuroradiologist. WMH were characterized via manual inspection and categorized according to the scale’s criteria.Results95 patients (36.1 %: mean age: 41.8) had no WMH on axial T2 and FLAIR imaging and 168 patients (63.9%, mean age: 51.4) had WMH. Of those with WMH, 94.1% (n = 158) had lobar hyperintensities (frontal: 148/158, 93.7%; parietal: 57/158, 36.1%; temporal: 35/158, 22.1%; occipital: 9/158, 5.7%), 13/168, 7.7% had basal ganglia WMH, 49/168, 29.1% had periventricular WMH, and 17/168, 10.1% had infratentorial WMH. 101/168 patients (60.1%) had bilateral WMH and 67/168 (39.9%) had unilateral WMH (34 right hemisphere /33 left hemisphere). 30.0% of patients with WMH did not have WMH reported in their clinical radiology reports.DiscussionNearly 2/3 of patients with migraine had WMH. They were most common in the lobar regions, specifically in the frontal lobe. The categorization of WMH in migraine using the modified Scheltens visual rating scale could help in future studies to clarify the relationship between WMH and headache features and might be a useful method for developing classifiers that differentiate between migraine-specific WMH and other causes of WMH.