Table 1 Main findings of selected papers investigating the relationship between migraine and MS
From: Advanced brain MRI may help understand the link between migraine and multiple sclerosis
Migraine | Multiple sclerosis | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
Demographics | Age at onset | late teens/20 s | 30 s | |
Gender | F > M (Ratio 2:1) | F > M (Ratio 3:1) | ||
Incidence | Lifetime prevalence: 12% of males and 24% of females | Lifetime prevalence: 0.15% of males and 0.45% of females | ||
Comorbidities | Multiple Sclerosis, Depression | Migraine, Depression | ||
Environmental factors | EBV and other types of infection, stress | EBV and other types of infection, stress | ||
Clinical symptoms | Throbbing unilateral headache for 4–72 h, transient neurological impairment | Episodes of neurological disability of varying severity and duration | ||
Clinical course | Mostly episodic. Chronic courses can cause significant disability (2nd leading cause of disability in the USA) | Mostly episodic. Chronic courses can cause significant disability (40% of MS patients rely on disability in the USA) | ||
Brain MRI findings | Conventional Imaging: | Deep and subcorticalWMHs, increased # with worsening symptoms, dominant side matches HA laterality | Perivenular WMHs (McDonald criteria) | |
Advanced Imaging: | Magnetization transfer imaging | Decreased MTR in WMHs | Decreased MTR in WMHs, subsequent increase reflects partial remyelination | |
Diffusion tensor imaging | Decreased FA/altered intergrity in optic WM tracts | Increased FA in acute demyelinating lesions; correlates with myelin content and axonal count |