Choroidal vascularity index and retinal nerve fiber layer reflectivity in newly diagnosed migraine patients.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the choroidal structural parameters, peripapillary retinal nerve fiber layer (RNFL) thickness, and optic density index (ODI) and their correlations in patients with migraine.

METHODS

Twenty-eight newly diagnosed migraine patients and 28 age-matched healthy controls were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. The enhanced depth-optical coherence tomography images were evaluated. The choroidal area (CA) was binarized to the luminal area (LA) and stromal area (SA) using Image J. The choroidal vascularity index (CVI), the mean peripapillary RNFL thickness, superior-inferior-nasal-temporal quadrant RNFL thicknesses, and the ODI were compared statistically.

RESULTS

The difference in the mean CVI between the patient group and controls reached a statistical significance (p=0.035). The mean RNFL thickness was significantly decreased in patients with migraine compared with the controls (p=0.040). The mean RNFL thickness in the superior, temporal, and inferior quadrants was significantly decreased in the patient group in comparison to the control subjects (p=0.030, p=0.001, and p=0.022, respectively). There were no significant differences between the migraine group and the controls for the mean ODI of RNFL (p=0.399).

CONCLUSION

The CVI and the RNFL thickness except for the nasal quadrant were significantly decreased in newly diagnosed migraine patients.