White matter disintegration in cluster headache

Abstract

BackgroundPrevious studies in primary headache disorders showed microstructural alterations in the white matter as measured by diffusion imaging. However these investigations are not in full agreement and some of those, especially in cluster headache, restricted the analysis to only a limited number of diffusion parameters. Therefore, in the current study we examined white matter microstructure in cluster headache patients.MethodsDiffusion weighted MRI images with 60 directions were acquired from thirteen patients with cluster headache and sixteen age-matched healthy controls. Tract based spatial statistics were used to compare white matter integrity in the core of the fibre bundles. Correlation of the diffusion parameters with cumulative number of headache days was examined.ResultsThere was a significant increment of the mean, axial and perpendicular diffusivity in widespread white matter regions in the frontal, parietal, temporal and occipital lobes. Reduced fractional anisotropy was found in the corpus callosum and some frontal and parietal white matter tracts mainly in the contralateral side of the pain. Axial diffusivity showed negative correlation to the number of the headache attacks.ConclusionsThe in vivo analysis of microstructural alterations in cluster headache provides important features of the disease, which might offer a deeper insight into the pathomechanism of the disease.

Brain white matter changes associated with urological chronic pelvic pain syndrome: multisite neuroimaging from a MAPP case–control study

“…Traditionally, CP/CPPS and IC/BPS have been considered distinct clinical syndromes triggered by end-organ pathology, such as occult inflammation, pelvic floor muscle dysfunction, and/or urinary dysfunction [24]. However, their common pelvic localization and significant symptom overlap suggests that parallel peripheral and central nervous system processes, and potentially similar genetic vulnerabilities, may mutually mediate their chronification [14; 24; 56]. Because UCPPS can impair multiple aspects of daily functioning, from affective, interpersonal, and sexual function, to work productivity and quality of life, it poses a substantial economic burden on the individual and society [6; 13; 44].…”

“…White matter microstructure is assessed using diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), which is used to deduce the microstructure of axonal tracts by measuring the direction of water flow within known structural barriers, like myelin sheaths surrounding axons [4]. Therefore DTI provides a gross measure of the organization of white matter fiber bundles—the structural pathways by which brain regions communicate—throughout the brain and can reliably detect white matter abnormalities across multiple clinical pain populations and neurological disease processes [10; 11; 26; 41; 56]. …”

Migraine affects white-matter tract integrity: A diffusion-tensor imaging study

“…Diffusion-tensor imaging (DTI) provides an excellent technique for investigating the microscopic characteristics of white-matter pathways by assessing the diffusion of water along and across white-matter tracts. Several migraine studies to date have investigated diffusionrelated brain alterations using DTI (5,7,(9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17) and have found regional differences in diffusivity metrics of migraine patients relative to controls. Yet, tractspecific differences are still poorly understood and insufficiently characterized.…”

Resting State FMRI Frequency Specific Alterations In Primary Headache Disorders

“…These studies also showed loss of the grey matter volume in various structures of the above mentioned pain matrix during pain free periods in CH (Absinta et al, 2012;Yang et al, 2013). Our and another diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) investigation revealed an extensive white matter microstructural alterations in interictal periods (Szabo et al, 2013;Teepker et al, 2012).…”