title: Selective diffusion changes of the visual pathways in patients with migraine: a 3-T tractography study.
abstract: Using diffusion tensor (DT) tractography, we quantified optic radiation (OR) structural changes in seven migraine patients with (MA) and eight without visual aura (MoA) and their relation to clinical manifestations and T2-visible burden. The corticospinal tract and the corpus callosum were studied as 'control' white matter (WM). No difference was found for any of the WM fibre bundles metrics between controls and MoA patients. MA patients had reduced average fractional anisotropy (FA) of both OR compared with controls and reduced average FA of the right OR compared with MoA patients. They also showed higher right OR mean diffusivity than controls. OR metrics were not correlated with clinical and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) metrics. DT tractography reveals OR changes in MA patients that might represent a phenotypic biomarker of the disease given the lack of correlation with clinical and structural MRI metrics.
authors.affiliation: Neuroimaging Research Unit, Department of Neurology, University Ospedale San Raffaele, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: M A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Rocca
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Pagani
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Colombo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tortorella
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Falini
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Comi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Filippi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016880:Anisotropy; D001284:Atrophy; D003337:Corpus Callosum / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D038524:Diffusion Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D009413:Nerve Fibers, Myelinated / Q000473:pathology; D011712:Pyramidal Tracts / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology*