Cortical Sulcal Abnormalities Revealed by Sulcal Morphometry in Patients with Chronic and Episodic Migraine

Shanyu Liu,1,2,* Xiaolin Hou,3,* Min Shi,1 Yuling Shen,1,2 Zhaoying Li,1,2 Zhenzhu Hu,1,2 Dongdong Yang1 1Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 2School of Clinical Medicine, Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China; 3Department of Neurosurgery, Sichuan Provincial People’s Hospital, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Chengdu, People’s Republic of China*These authors contributed equally to this workCorrespondence: Dongdong Yang, Department of Neurology, Affiliated Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, No. 39, Twelve Bridges Road, Chengdu, Sichuan Province, 610075, People’s Republic of China, Tel/Fax +86 028-87783481, Email dongdongyang2020@163.comPurpose: Previous studies have reported mixed results regarding the importance of cortical abnormalities in patients with migraines. However, cortical sulci, as a component of the cerebral cortex, have not been specifically investigated in migraine patients. Therefore, we aim to evaluate alterations in cortical sulcal morphology among patients with chronic migraine (CM), episodic migraine (EM), and healthy controls (HCs).Patients and Methods: In this cross-sectional study, structural magnetic resonance images were acquired from 35 patients with CM, 35 with EM, and 35 HCs. Cortical sulci were identified and reconstructed using the BrainVisa 5.0.4 software. We focused on regions involved in pain processing in which abnormal cortical structure were identified in previous neuroimaging studies. Morphometric analysis was performed to calculate sulcal parameters including mean depth, cortical thickness, and opening width. Partial correlation analyses of clinical characteristics and sulcal parameters were performed for CM, EM and the combined migraine (CM + EM) groups.Results: In comparison with HCs, both CM