• Andreas Kattem Husøy, Marit Kristina Indergaard, Lasse-Marius Honningsvåg, Asta K Håberg, Knut Hagen, Mattias Linde, Mari Gårseth, and Lars Jacob Stovner.
• Department of Neuroscience, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Norway ahusoy@gmail.com.
• Cephalalgia. 2016 Mar 1; 36 (3): 232-9.

BackgroundIn four previous clinic-based MRI studies headache sufferers (in particular migraineurs) had more perivascular spaces (PVS) than individuals who were headache-free.MethodsThe present study was part of a large longitudinal, epidemiological study (Nord-Trøndelag Health Survey (HUNT)). The 1006 participants, age 50-65 years at inclusion, had participated in all previous HUNT surveys (1-3), and been randomly selected to a population-based imaging study of the head (HUNT-MRI, 2007-2009). The number of visible PVS in the basal ganglia (BG) and hemispheric white matter (HWM) was compared in headache sufferers (migraine with and without aura, non-migrainous headache) and people who were headache-free.ResultsThe results showed in general small differences between headache sufferers and headache-free participants. In the cross-sectional analysis migraineurs without aura had fewer PVS than headache-free individuals in BG (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.76--0.94, p value = 0.003) and in BG and HWM together (OR = 0.97, 95% CI = 0.95-1.00, p value = 0.046). No difference between long-term headache sufferers and long-term headache-free individuals with regard to number of PVS was found.DiscussionIn contrast to previous studies, the present large, blinded, population-based study showed no increase in number of dilated PVS among headache sufferers. Fewer PVS among those with migraine without aura may be a spurious finding.© International Headache Society 2015.

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