Foveal Thickness Alterations in Patients with Migraine

AIM: To investigate the alterations in foveal retinal thickness (FT) values in patients with migraine and to reveal the correlations between FT and clinical characteristics of migraine disease. METHODS: This study included sixty-eight eyes of 34 migraine patients [twenty-eight eyes of 14 patients with aura (group 1), and forty eyes of 20 patients without aura (group 2)] and forty eyes of 20 healthy volunteer who served as the control group (group 3). FT values were measured by optical coherence tomography (OCT) in each group. RESULTS: Mean age of patients in group 1, 2, and 3 was 34.0± 6.82, 35.2±10.12, and 35.1± 6.85 years, respectively (p=0.84). Mean FT was 211.07±7.36, 220.0±12.01, and 221.85±12.27 in groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively. There was statistically significance among the group 1-2 and 1-3 (p=0.002 and p< 0.001). There was no statistically significance between group 2-3 (p=0.88). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that in particular migraine with aura may lead to a reduction in FT values. This finding can be explained by the blood flow decrease theory in migraine; however larger studies seem mandatory.