Imaging Findings of Migraine
Increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging techniques have allowed researchers to begin to define functional and anatomical characteristics of migraine. This paper reviews current knowledge and techniques employed. Assessing present-day knowledge limitations it concludes that with parallel advances in the technology of imaging and the pathophysiologic understanding of migraine, a reliable biomarker may be discovered in the future.
Migraine, a neurological syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of moderate to severe headache variably accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia afflicts about 28 million people in the United States. It is estimated that up to a third of migraine sufferers also experience transient focal neurological symptoms preceding or during the course of some of their attacks. These symptoms, termed the migraine aura, include visual, sensory, language, and motor dysfunction. Although migraine is clinically very striking and frequently quite disabling, up to 50% of migraineurs go undiagnosed and as a result are frequently given inappropriate treatment. This is due in part to the fact the syndrome has traditionally been defined by the clinical characteristics of the acute attack and has lacked biomarkers (consistent physical signs or laboratory findings that occurred in association with migraine). Research in migraine has also been hampered by a dearth of known objective biomarkers. It is likely that migraine is caused by a complex combination of genetic susceptibilities which interact with numerous and variable environmental triggers. As a result, the clinical features on which current migraine diagnosis is based do not reflect the heterogeneity of the biological basis of the syndrome. Aside from the uncommon subgroup of hemiplegic migraine, our understanding of the genetic basis of migraine is still limited and there is currently no genetic test to confirm the diagnosis or migraine or define migraine subtypes. Fortunately, with the advent of increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging techniques, several functional and anatomical characteristics of the syndrome have and are currently being defined which may, over the coming decades, prove to be invaluable in migraine treatment and research.
Increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging techniques have allowed researchers to begin to define functional and anatomical characteristics of migraine. This paper reviews current knowledge and techniques employed. Assessing present-day knowledge limitations it concludes that with parallel advances in the technology of imaging and the pathophysiologic understanding of migraine, a reliable biomarker may be discovered in the future.
Migraine, a neurological syndrome characterized by recurrent episodes of moderate to severe headache variably accompanied by nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia afflicts about 28 million people in the United States. It is estimated that up to a third of migraine sufferers also experience transient focal neurological symptoms preceding or during the course of some of their attacks. These symptoms, termed the migraine aura, include visual, sensory, language, and motor dysfunction. Although migraine is clinically very striking and frequently quite disabling, up to 50% of migraineurs go undiagnosed and as a result are frequently given inappropriate treatment. This is due in part to the fact the syndrome has traditionally been defined by the clinical characteristics of the acute attack and has lacked biomarkers (consistent physical signs or laboratory findings that occurred in association with migraine). Research in migraine has also been hampered by a dearth of known objective biomarkers. It is likely that migraine is caused by a complex combination of genetic susceptibilities which interact with numerous and variable environmental triggers. As a result, the clinical features on which current migraine diagnosis is based do not reflect the heterogeneity of the biological basis of the syndrome. Aside from the uncommon subgroup of hemiplegic migraine, our understanding of the genetic basis of migraine is still limited and there is currently no genetic test to confirm the diagnosis or migraine or define migraine subtypes. Fortunately, with the advent of increasingly sophisticated neuroimaging techniques, several functional and anatomical characteristics of the syndrome have and are currently being defined which may, over the coming decades, prove to be invaluable in migraine treatment and research.