title: Changes in retinal vessel diameters in migraine patients during attack-free period.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the retinal vessel diameters in patients with migraine by optical coherence tomography (OCT).
  
  
  METHODS
  In this cross-sectional study, 124 eyes of 62 patients with a diagnosis of unilateral migraine during attack-free period and 42 age- and sex-matched control subjects were included. Migraine patients were divided into the ≤2 migraine attacks per month group and the ≥5 migraine attacks per month group. All subjects underwent complete ophthalmological and neurological examinations before measurements. Retinal vessel diameters and choroidal thickness were examined with the Spectralis OCT.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean diameters of the arteries in the eyes on the headache side of control group, ≥5 migraine attacks per month and ≤2 migraine attacks per month group at 480 µm from the optic disk (Raster 3) were 119.54±46.69, 136.68±25.93 and 119.34±31.75 µm respectively with a steady decline to 105.57±32.15, 118.18±31.87 and 108.05±38.77 µm at 1440 µm (Raster 7), the last measurement point, respectively. The retinal artery diameter measurements were significantly increased in ≥5 migraine attacks per month patients at four out of five measured points compared to control group (P<0.05). There were no statistical differences at any of the points of vein measurements. The choroidal thickness measurements were significantly decreased in ≥5 migraine attacks per month patients at all measured points compared to control group (P<0.05).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The retinal artery diameter is found to increase significantly and the choroidal thickness is found to decrease in the eyes on the headache side in ≥5 migraine attacks per month patients compared to control group.
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Metin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Unlu
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Duygu Gulmez
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Sevim
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Murat
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Gultekin
authors.affiliation: Neurology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Recep
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Baydemir
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Cagatay
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Karaca
authors.affiliation: Ophthalmology Department, School of Medicine, Erciyes University, Kayseri 38039, Turkey.
authors.forename: Ayse
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Oner
keywords: choroidal thickness; migraine; optical coherence tomography; retinal vessel diameter