Examination of brain tissue changes by transcranial ultrasonography in migraine patients and evaluation of their relationship with depression

Objective: This study was planned to examinate the deep brain parenchyma structures via transcranial ultrasonography in migraine patients and to investigate their relationship with depression which is an important factor contributing to the choice of treatment and prognosis Materials and methods: Between 2018- 2021, 43 healthy controls who had ultrasonography records in the Akdeniz University Neurosonology Laboratory and 42 patients who were diagnosed with migraine with aura and without aura according to the International Classification of Headache Disorders-3-Beta criteria were included in the study. Participants' sociodemographic data, Hamilton Depression scale and migraine patients' MIDAS scores were eveluated Results: Smoking and family history of migraine were more frequent in migraineurs compared to control's (p=0.001, p=0.046). Hamilton Depression scores were higher in the migraine group (p=0.008). The width of the frontal horn of the lateral ventricle was narrower in migraine patients than controls (p=0.003, p<0.001). In the control group, statistically significant positive moderate correlation was detected between age and third ventricle width (p:0.006, r:0.412). In migraine patients , statistically significant positive moderate correlation was detected between Hamilton Depression scales and MIDAS scores (p:0,002, r:0,470). Rate of pathological Raphe echogenity in participants' who had Hamilton Depression Scores of 8 and above was statistically higher than other participants' who had Hamilton scores below 8 (53%) (p=0.012). In the control group, the Hamilton score of participant who had pathological Raphe Nucleus echogenicity was significantly higher than the Hamilton scores of participant who had normal echogenicity (p=0.01). In the migraine group, there was no significant relationship between the Hamilton scores and Raphe Nucleus echogenity (p=0.707). No statistically significant difference was found between the two groups in terms of other sociodemographic data and ultrasonography findings. There was no relationship between brain stem Raphe Nucleus echogenicity and disease duration, frequency, age, gender, attack medication, number of attack drugs and prophylactic treatment group. Discussion: In our study, generally higher Hamilton Depression scores were found to be associated with reduced Raphe Nucleus echogenicity. This association was found only in the control group, but could not be observed in migraine patients. There was no statistical difference between the two groups in terms of measurements of the Substantia Nigra and the measurement of the third ventricle. Lateral ventricular frontal horn width in migraine patients was narrowed than controls'. This data show that the decrease in Raphe Nucleus echogenicity may be associated with depression. It seems clinically feasible to evaluate this nucleus echogenicity by transcranial ultrasonography in diseases which are associated with depression Conclusion: We found that decreased echogenicity of the Raphe Nucleus is primarily associated with depression. Detection of the changes which were caused by depression which accompanies many neurological diseases and reduces the quality of life, by transcranial ultrasonography may be useful as an auxiliary method in clinical practice.