The middle meningial artery during a migraine attack: 3T magnetic resonance angiography study

Abstract

We performed 3T magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) during a spontaneous migraine attack. The patient was a 42-year-old woman migraineur diagnosed by the IHS criteria. The change of the middle meningial artery (MMA) was measured on the axial brain images using MATLAB for three phases (attack-free period, during an attack, a period after medication). There were no dramatic changes of vasodilation in the MMA during the attack (2.0 mm), attack-free period (diameter 1.9 mm), or period after medication (1.7 mm), resembling extrapolations of observations in experimental animal models. This finding suggests that the dramatic vasomotion might not be associated with migraine pathophysiology. © 2009 The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine.