Evaluation of choroidal thickness using spectral-domain optical coherence tomography in migraine patients during acute migraine attacks: a comparative study

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this study was to assess choroidal thickness in migraine patients during acute migraine attacks and compare them with healthy controls, using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (OCT). Patients and methods In this prospective case-control study, choroidal thicknesses of 46 migraine patients during acute migraine attacks and 46 age-and sex-matched healthy subjects were measured using a high-speed, high-resolution frequency domain-OCT device. All patients underwent a complete ophthalmic examination before the measurements. OCT measurements were taken at the same time of day (0900 hours), in order to minimize the effects of diurnal variation. Results There was a statistically significant difference in mean choroidal thickness between the migraine patients during acute migraine attacks (356.3 ± 21.46 mm) and the controls (302.3 ± 18.34 mm; P ¼ 0.000). There were significant differences at all measurement points (Po0.001 for all). Conclusion The increased choroidal thickness of the migraine patients during acute migraine attacks might be related to the vascular pathology of the disease. Further studies are needed to evaluate the etiopathologic relationship between choroidal thickness and acute migraine attack.

Choroidal thickness measurements in migraine patients during attack-free period

“…In fact, there are contradictory results for this period. For instance; Karalezli et al [38] assessed choroidal thickness in 46 acute migraine patients and found a statistically significant thickening at all measurement points in mean choroidal thickness compared to healthy controls. They conclude that the increased choroidal thickness of the migraine patients might be due to rebound vasodilatation in the acute attack period.…”

Evaluation of the macular choroidal thickness using spectral‐domain optical coherence tomography in patients with obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome: response

“…2 First, it is true that the general choroidal changes may not be reflected because of point thickness measurements, and this could be a limitation of our study. Fortunately, Xin et al 3 and Karalezli et al 4 also reported such topographic variations. Thus, a tendency of decreased choroidal thickness is seemed to occur in OSAS patients.…”

Clinical impact of migraine for the management of glaucoma patients

“…The apparent conflict in findings appears to be related to the time of testing. A cross-sectional study imaged migraine participants during a migraine attack and reported an increase in choroidal thickness relative to a group of non-headache controls (Karalezli et al, 2014). Dadaci et al (2014) shed further light on this result, by comparing choroidal thickness across two test visits in the same migraine observers (one at baseline, the other during an attack).…”