Premium
Magnetic resonance angiography of the human middle meningeal artery: Implications for migraine
Author(s) -
Schoonman Guus G.,
Bakker Dick,
Schmitz Nicole,
van der Geest Rob J.,
van der Grond Jeroen,
Ferrari Michael D.,
van Buchem Mark A.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
journal of magnetic resonance imaging
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.563
H-Index - 160
eISSN - 1522-2586
pISSN - 1053-1807
DOI - 10.1002/jmri.20708
Subject(s) - migraine , middle meningeal artery , medicine , magnetic resonance angiography , neurovascular bundle , magnetic resonance imaging , angiography , radiology , middle cerebral artery , nuclear medicine , anesthesia , cardiology , pathology , embolization , ischemia
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.