Hyperintense abnormalities on T2-weighted magnetic resonance (MR) scans of
the brain from patients with migraine are a relatively frequent finding and
may represent a diagnostic challenge. We studied the cervical cord of pati
ents with migraine using T2-weighted and magnetization transfer (MT) scans
to assess whether the study of macro- and microscopic tissue damage in the
cervical cord of these patients may have some diagnostic utility. T2-weight
ed and MT scans of the cervical cord and dual-echo scans of the brain were
acquired from 16 patients with migraine and 17 sex- and age-matched healthy
volunteers. Cervical cord MT ratio (MTR) histograms were obtained from all
subjects and the relative peak height, the peak position, and the average
MTR measured. Five migraine patients (31%) had hyperintense lesions in the
brain. Neither healthy controls nor patients with migraine had any abnormal
ities on cervical cord MR scans. There was no difference for any of the cor
d MTR histogram-derived metrics between patients with migraine and healthy
controls. No MTR histogram-derived measures from migraine patients were 2 s
tandard deviations below the mean values from controls. Patients with migra
ine do not have MR or MT abnormalities in the cervical cord. MR scanning of
the cervical cord in patients with migraine and hyperintense brain lesions
of unknown etiology may be a useful investigation to facilitate the diagno
stic workout. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.