Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluation of retinal vessel density and choriocapillaris flow in migraine patients with and without aura

  • Neurophthalmology
  • Published:
Graefe's Archive for Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Purpose

Migraine is thought to be a neurovascular disorder and increases the likelyhood to develop ischemic complications. Studies have shown that vascular disorders such as ischemic optic neuropathy, retinal artery and vein obstructions are more common in patients with migraine. This study aimed to evaluate the differences between retinal and optic disc microvasculature between migraine patients with and without aura and healthy controls using optical coherence tomography angiography (OCTA) imaging.

Methods

Thirty-three patients with migraine and 28 healthy subjects were included in this prospective cross sectional study. Optical coherence tomography angiography imaging was performed for the macula and optic disc. Vessel densities (VD) and choriocapillaris flow values were compared between three groups: control group, migraine with aura (MWA), and migraine without aura (MWOA).

Results

There was no difference between the three groups for the VDs of the foveal, perifoveal, parafoveal, and the whole area. The choriocapillaris flow of patients with MWA was significantly less than that of the MWOA and control groups. The VDs of the optic disc revealed no significant difference between the three groups.

Conclusion

A lack of choriocapillaris autoregulatory mechanisms may be a possible cause of the decrease in choriocapillaris flow in patients with MWA.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Brennan KC, Charles A (2010) An update on the blood vessel in migraine. Curr Opin Neurol 23:266–274. https://doi.org/10.1097/WCO.0b013e32833821c1

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  2. Schain AJ, Melo-Carrillo A, Strassman AM, Burstein R (2017) Cortical spreading depression closes paravascular space and impairs glymphatic flow: implications for migraine headache. J Neurosci 37:2904–2915. https://doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.3390-16.2017

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  3. Benninger F, Saban T, Steiner I (2015) Central retinal vein occlusion in a migraine patient. J Clin Neurosci 22:1833–1834. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jocn.2015.03.057

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Christakis PG, Alon R, Brent MH (2018) Recurrent visual field defect associated with migraine resulting in a hemiretinal artery occlusion. Can J Ophthalmol 53:e92–e94. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcjo.2017.08.023

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Lee AG, Brazis PW, Miller NR (1996) Posterior ischemic optic neuropathy associated with migraine. Headache 36:506–510. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1526-4610.1996.3608506.x

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  6. Ota I, Kuroshima K, Nagaoka T (2013) Fundus video of retinal migraine. JAMA Ophthalmol 131:1481–1482. https://doi.org/10.1001/jamaophthalmol.2013.4686

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  7. Rose KM, Wong TY, Carson AP, Couper DJ, Klein R, Sharrett AR (2007) Migraine and retinal microvascular abnormalities: the atherosclerosis risk in communities study. Neurology 68:1694–1700. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000261916.42871.05

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Chang MY, Phasukkijwatana N, Garrity S, Pineles SL, Rahimi M, Sarraf D, Johnston M, Charles A, Arnold AC (2017) Foveal and peripapillary vascular decrement in migraine with aura demonstrated by optical coherence tomography angiography. Invest Ophthalmol Vis Sci 58:5477–5484. https://doi.org/10.1167/iovs.17-22477

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  9. Ulusoy MO, Horasanli B, Kal A (2019) Retinal vascular density evaluation of migraine patients with and without aura and association with white matter hyperintensities. Acta Neurol Belg. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13760-019-01094-7

  10. Jia Y, Tan O, Tokayer J, Potsaid B, Wang Y, Liu JJ, Kraus MF, Subhash H, Fujimoto JG, Hornegger J, Huang D (2012) Split-spectrum amplitude-decorrelation angiography with optical coherence tomography. Opt Express 20:4710–4725. https://doi.org/10.1364/oe.20.004710

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  11. Gryglas A, Smigiel R (2017) Migraine and stroke: What's the link? What to do? Current neurology and neuroscience reports 17:22. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11910-017-0729-y

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  12. Gudmundsson LS, Scher AI, Aspelund T, Eliasson JH, Johannsson M, Thorgeirsson G, Launer L, Gudnason V (2010) Migraine with aura and risk of cardiovascular and all cause mortality in men and women: prospective cohort study. BMJ 341:c3966. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.c3966

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  13. Kurth T, Schurks M, Logroscino G, Gaziano JM, Buring JE (2008) Migraine, vascular risk, and cardiovascular events in women: prospective cohort study. BMJ 337:a636. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.a636

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  14. Kruit MC, van Buchem MA, Hofman PA, Bakkers JT, Terwindt GM, Ferrari MD, Launer LJ (2004) Migraine as a risk factor for subclinical brain lesions. JAMA 291:427–434. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.291.4.427

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  15. Eikermann-Haerter K (2014) Spreading depolarization may link migraine and stroke. Headache 54:1146–1157. https://doi.org/10.1111/head.12386

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  16. Delaey C, Van De Voorde J (2000) Regulatory mechanisms in the retinal and choroidal circulation. Ophthalmic Res 32:249–256. https://doi.org/10.1159/000055622

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  17. Bingol Kiziltunc P, Atilla H (2020) Vascular changes with optical coherence tomography angiography during aura of migraine: a case report. Eur J Ophthalmol. https://doi.org/10.1177/1120672119899900

  18. Feng YF, Guo H, Huang JH, Yu JG, Yuan F (2016) Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness changes in migraine: a meta-analysis of case-control studies. Curr Eye Res 41:814–822. https://doi.org/10.3109/02713683.2015.1056373

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  19. Reggio E, Chisari CG, Ferrigno G, Patti F, Donzuso G, Sciacca G, Avitabile T, Faro S, Zappia M (2017) Migraine causes retinal and choroidal structural changes: evaluation with ocular coherence tomography. J Neurol 264:494–502. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00415-016-8364-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  20. Ekinci M, Ceylan E, Cağatay HH, Keleş S, Hüseyinoğlu N, Tanyildiz B, Cakici O, Kartal B (2014) Retinal nerve fibre layer, ganglion cell layer and choroid thinning in migraine with aura. BMC Ophthalmol 14:75. https://doi.org/10.1186/1471-2415-14-75

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  21. Yülek F, Dirik EB, Eren Y, Simavlı H, Uğurlu N, Çağıl N, Şimşek Ş (2015) Macula and retinal nerve fiber layer in migraine patients: analysis by spectral domain optic coherence tomography. Semin Ophthalmol 30:124–128. https://doi.org/10.3109/08820538.2013.833270

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  22. Kurth T, Slomke MA, Kase CS, Cook NR, Lee IM, Gaziano JM, Diener HC, Buring JE (2005) Migraine, headache, and the risk of stroke in women: a prospective study. Neurology 64:1020–1026. https://doi.org/10.1212/01.wnl.0000154528.21485.3a

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  23. Sacco S, Ricci S, Carolei A (2012) Migraine and vascular diseases: a review of the evidence and potential implications for management. Cephalalgia 32:785–795. https://doi.org/10.1177/0333102412451361

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  24. Gipponi S, Scaroni N, Venturelli E, Forbice E, Rao R, Liberini P, Padovani A, Semeraro F (2013) Reduction in retinal nerve fiber layer thickness in migraine patients. Neurol Sci 34:841–845. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-012-1103-0

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  25. Simsek IB (2017) Retinal nerve fibre layer thickness of migraine patients with or without white matter lesions. Neuroophthalmology 41:7–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/01658107.2016.1243131

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  26. Colak HN, Kantarcı FA, Tatar MG, Eryilmaz M, Uslu H, Goker H, Yildirim A, Gurler B (2016) Retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell complex, and choroidal thicknesses in migraine. Arq Bras Oftalmol 79:78–81. https://doi.org/10.5935/0004-2749.20160024

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  27. Demircan S, Ataş M, Arık Yüksel S, Ulusoy MD, Yuvacı İ, Arifoğlu HB, Başkan B, Zararsız G (2015) The impact of migraine on posterior ocular structures. J Ophthalmol 2015:868967. https://doi.org/10.1155/2015/868967

    Article  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Ophthalmology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Pınar Bingöl Kızıltunç, Gökçen Özcan, Ferhad Özer & Huban Atilla

  2. Department of Neurology, Ankara University School of Medicine, Ankara, Turkey

    Canan Togay Işıkay

Authors
  1. Pınar Bingöl Kızıltunç
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gökçen Özcan
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Ferhad Özer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Canan Togay Işıkay
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Huban Atilla
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Pınar Bingöl Kızıltunç.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bingöl Kızıltunç, P., Özcan, G., Özer, F. et al. Evaluation of retinal vessel density and choriocapillaris flow in migraine patients with and without aura. Graefes Arch Clin Exp Ophthalmol 258, 2517–2521 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-020-04805-6

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00417-020-04805-6

Keywords

Search

Navigation