Magnetic resonance angiography of the human middle meningeal artery: Implications for migraine

✍ Scribed by Guus G. Schoonman; Dick Bakker; Nicole Schmitz; Rob J. van der Geest; Jeroen van der Grond; Michael D. Ferrari; Mark A. van Buchem

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2006
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 126 KB
• Volume: 24
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1053-1807
• DOI: 10.1002/jmri.20708

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Purpose

To describe a novel noninvasive method for studying middle meningeal artery (MMA) diameter changes in vivo in humans. Dilatation of the MMA has been implicated in the pathophysiology of migraine headache, but no direct evidence has been obtained in humans.

Materials and Methods

The diameter of the MMA (the extracranial part) was measured in 19 healthy volunteers before and after administration of a vasodilator (nitroglycerin (NTG), 1.2 mg sublingually) known to provoke headache. We used magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) in combination with a 47‐mm microscopy coil and a semiautomatic contour detection program.

Results

The diameter of the MMA was 1.5 ± 0.26 mm (mean ± SD) before and 1.79 ± 0.30 mm after NTG administration. This increase was 20.1% (95% CI = 12.9–27.3; P < 0.001). The mean increase in subjects who developed headache (N = 11) was 0.34 ± 0.19 mm as compared to 0.22 mm ± 0.20 mm in the eight subjects who did not (95% CI for difference = −0.07 to 0.31; P = 0.188).

Conclusion

MRA in combination with a 47‐mm microscopy coil is a novel, noninvasive method to measure changes in the diameter of human meningeal vessels, with potential applications for migraine and other fields of neurovascular research. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2006. © 2006 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.