Altered Retinal Nerve Fiber Layer Thickness and Choroid Thickness in Patients with Migraine

Background: Migraine is a chronic neurological disorder. However, its pathogenesis is still unclear. This study aimed to measure the posterior ocular structure in patients with migraine using enhanced depth imaging (EDI)-optical coherence tomography (OCT) and explore the probable pathogenesis of migraine. Methods: A total of 115 patients diagnosed with migraine and 50 healthy volunteers were recruited. These participants underwent an ocular examination to exclude the ocular diseases. Retinal nerve fiber layer thickness, macular thickness, and choroid thickness were assessed using EDI-OCT. Results: The nasal peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (pRNFL) was significantly thinner in the migraine with aura group (p = 0.001) than that in the control group. The inferior inner macular layer was thinner in the migraine with aura group (p = 0.005). The 3 subfields of choroid were significantly thinner in the migraine with aura group (p = 0.044, 0.008, and 0.029). However, there was no difference between the migraine without aura group and the control group. The nasal pRNFL in migraine with aura was negatively correlated with the product of duration (months) and number of attacks/month (p = 0.039). Conclusion: The changes in the ocular posterior structure may serve as evidence of the trigeminovascular system mechanism underlying migraine and transneuronal retrograde degeneration of the primary visual cortex, which reflects the cortical spreading depression.