Abstract #3654

Structural Abnormalities in the Thalamus of Migraine Patients: A Multi-Parametric Study at High Field.

Cristina Granziera¹,², Alessandro Daducci³, David Romascano², Alexis Roche², Gunther Helms⁴, Gunnar Krueger,²⁵, Nouchine Hadjikhani⁶,⁷

¹Department of clinical neurosciences, CHUV, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland; ²Advanced clinical imaging technology, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland; ³ST/IEL/LTS5, EPFL, Lausanne, VD, Switzerland; ⁴Dept. of Cognitive Neurology, MR-Research in Neurology and Psychiatry, Goettingen, Germany; ⁵Healthcare Sector IM&WS S, Siemens Schweiz AG,, Renens, VD, Switzerland; ⁶BMI/SV/GRHAD, EPFL, Lausanne, Vd, Switzerland; ⁷Radiology, Martinos center, MGH and Harvard medical school, Charlestown, MA, Switzerland

The thalamus is an important relay of pain processing pathways and exerts a pivotal role in cortical excitability control. In this study, we examined the structural characteristics of the thalamus in a group of migraine patients and healthy controls using a multi-parametric approach at high field MRI (3T). We showed that patients suffering from migraine with aura had different micro-structural features in numerous thalamic nuclei compared to migraineurs without aura and non-migraineurs, pointing at iron accumulation in some thalamic nuclei and at increased cellular presence in others. The observed alterations encompassed the somato-sensory, limbic and visual thalamic regions.