Clinical study of subclinical lesions in patients with migraine

Objective: To explore the features of subclinical lesions in patients with migraine.Methods: Brain magnetic resonance images were performed to 59 migraineurs(migraine group) and 33 normal subjects(control group),and the features of subclinical brain lesions were observed.According to the MRI results,the migraine patients were divided into subclinical-brain-lesion group and non-subclinical-brain-lesion group;the serum levels of neuron-specific enolase of the two groups were measured during a migraine attack and attack-free period.Results: Subclinical brain lesions were observed in 16 patients with migraine.Anatomically the lesions were distributed as follows:12 in the frontal lobe,8 in the parietal,6 in the basal ganglia,5 in the semioval center,2 in the occipital lobe,1 in the anterior horn of the lateral ventricle and 1 in the brain stem.Migraineurs had a higher prevalence of subclinical brain lesions than the control(27.12% vs 6.06%)(P<0.05).The ictal and interictal serum neuron-specific enolase levels of the migraineurs with subclinical brain lesions were significantly higher than those of the migraineurs without subclinical brain lesions(P<0.05).Conclusions: Subclinical brain lesions are mainly located in the frontal and parietal lobe.Patients with migraine might be associated with an increased risk of subclinical brain lesions,which indicates that migraine might be an insidious,slow development disease.