Migraine linked to brain lesions

People with migraine seem to be at an increased risk for lesions in certain brain areas. Results from previous studies have suggested a link between migraine and certain brain lesions, but it was unclear if such an association existed in all patients with migraine. To investigate this, researchers from the Leiden University Medical Centre in the Netherlands, compared the number of brain lesions in 161 patients with migraine with aura, 134 with migraine without aura, and 140 similar subjects without migraine. Aura is an illusion involving sight or other senses that can accompany the headache. It was found that small regions of dead brain tissue were no more common in migraine patients than in comparison subjects. However, migraine patients, especially those with auras and at least one attack per month, were at an increased risk for dead tissue areas in the back of the brain. Another type of brain lesion, called deep white matter lesions (WMLs), were much more common in women with migraines than in healthy women. The risk of such lesions increased as the frequency of attack rose, but was not affected by the presence or absence of aura. In contrast, no link between migraine and deep WMLs was seen in men. If the brain lesions demonstrated in the present study have a significant clinical correlation, preventing the accumulation of brain lesions may become an additional goal of migraine therapy. However, it remains to be determined whether these lesions ever cause any problems for the patient, and further study into the possible reasons for these is required.