A spectacular discovery in the brains of migraine sufferers awake at these hours great expectations to find an effective way to conclude with that terrible disease.
Using ultra-high-resolution MRI, the researchers found that the perivascular spaces (fluid-filled spaces around blood vessels in the brain) are unusually enlarged in patients suffering from both chronic and episodic migraine.
While the link or role in migraine has yet to be established, the finding could represent an uncharted avenue for future research.
The discovery was presented at the 108th Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting of the Radiological Society of North America.
“In people with chronic migraine and episodic migraine without aura, there are significant changes in the perivascular spaces of a region of the brain called the semi-oval centrum,” said medical scientist Wilson Xu of the University of Southern California in Los Angeles.
“These changes have never been reported before”, added the specialist.
Migraine, without understatement, it’s hell to live. While the excruciating aspect of headaches is well known, migraines can also cause dizziness, impaired vision (known as an aura), photosensitivity, and nausea to the point of vomiting.
It is not known what causes migrainesThere is no cure and in many cases the condition does not respond to treatment.
The condition it affects about 14% of the world’s population. Therefore, finding a cause and more effective management strategies would improve the lives of millions of people.
Xu and his colleagues were curious about the perivascular spaces in the semioval centrum, the central white matter region of the brain directly under the cerebral cortex.
The function of these spaces is not fully understood; they play a role in draining fluid movement, and their enlargement can be a symptom of a larger problem.
“The perivascular spaces are part of a fluid removal system in the brain,” says Xu. “Studying how they contribute to migraine could help us better understand the intricacies of how migraines occur“.
For the study, he and his colleagues recruited 20 migraineurs between the ages of 25 and 60: 10 with chronic migraines without aura and 10 with episodic migraines.
In addition, 5 healthy patients who did not experience migraine were included as a control group.
The team excluded patients with cognitive impairment, claustrophobia, a brain tumor or who had undergone previous brain surgery.
They then performed MRI scans using a very high field MRI with a 7 tesla magnet. Most hospital scanners only have magnets up to 3 tesla.
“To our knowledge, this is the first study using ultra-high-resolution MRI to investigate microvascular changes in the brain due to migraine, particularly in the perivascular spaces,” Xu explains.
“Because 7T MRI can create images of the brain in much higher resolution and better quality than other types of MRI, it can be used to demonstrate very minor changes occurring in brain tissue after a migraine.
The scans revealed that the perivascular spaces in the semioval centrum of migraine patients have been greatly enlarged compared to the control group.
Researchers too found a difference in the distribution of a type of injury known as hyperintensity white matter in patients with migraine.
These are caused by small patches of dead tissue or partially starved due to reduced blood flow and are quite normal.
There was no difference in the frequency of these lesions between migraineurs and control patients, but the severity of deep lesions in migraineurs was greater.
This suggests, according to the researchers, that the enlargement of the perivascular spaces could lead to a future development more white matter lesions.
Although the nature of the link between widened perivascular spaces and migraine is unclear, the results suggest that migraine goes with a problem with “brain tubes”, the glymphatic system responsible for the removal of waste in the brain and nervous system. Use perivascular channels for transportation.
More work is needed to explore this correlation, but identifying it is also promising. “The results of our study could help inspire future studies on a larger scale to further investigate how changes in the brain’s microscopic vessels and blood supply contribute to different types of migraine,” says Xu.
“Eventually, this it could help us develop new forms and customized to diagnose and treat migraine.
Source: Scientific Advisory
Source: Clarin
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.