Table 3.
Imaging findings during persistent post-traumatic headache.
| References | PTH phase | Imaging modality or measure | Comparison group(s) | Main findings |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chong et al. (18) | Persistent | Cortical thickness | HC | Less thickness in frontal (superior, caudal middle, precentral) and parietal lobes (precuneus, supramarginal, inferior, superior). |
| Negative correlations between superior frontal thickness with headache frequency. | ||||
| Chong et al. (19) | Persistent | DTI | 1) Migraine 2) HC |
vs. Migraine: DTI differences in anterior thalamic radiations, cingulum, inferior and superior longitudinal fasciculi, uncinate fasciculi, corticospinal tract. |
| Positive correlation between cingulum angular bundle MD and RD with headache frequency. | ||||
| vs. HC: DTI differences in anterior thalamic radiations, cingulum, corticospinal tract, inferior longitudinal fasciculus, uncinate fasciculus, forceps major and minor. | ||||
| Gilkey et al. (20) | Persistent | CBF | 1) Migraine 2) HC |
vs. Migraine + HC: reduced regional CBF; greater regional and hemispheric CBF asymmetries. |
| Schwedt et al. (21) | Persistent | Regional volumes, cortical thickness, surface area, curvature | 1) Migraine 2) HC |
vs. Migraine: structural differences in frontal (lateral orbitofrontal, caudal middle, superior) and parietal lobes (precuneus, supramarginal). |
| vs. HC (only considering regions that differed between PPTH vs. Migraine): frontal (lateral orbitofrontal, superior) and parietal lobes (supramarginal). | ||||
| Dumkrieger et al. (22) | Persistent | Static and dynamic functional connectivity | 1) Migraine 2) HC |
vs. Migraine (static connectivity): 17 region pairs that included somatosensory, insula, hypothalamus, anterior and middle cingulate, temporal pole, supramarginal, superior parietal, middle occipital, lingual, pulvinar, precuneus, cuneus, somatomotor, ventromedial prefrontal, and dorsolateral prefrontal regions. |
| Correlations between years with headache and headache frequency with static connectivity of a few region pairs. | ||||
| vs. Migraine (dynamic connectivity): 10 region pairs that included somatosensory, hypothalamus, middle cingulate, temporal pole, supramarginal, superior parietal, lingual gyrus, somatomotor, precentral, posterior cingulate, middle frontal, fusiform, parieto-occipital, and amygdala regions. | ||||
| Correlations between headache frequency and pain intensity with dynamic connectivity with a couple region pairs. | ||||
| vs. HC (only considering regions that differed between PPTH vs. Migraine; static connectivity): dorsolateral prefrontal, ventromedial prefrontal, middle cingulate, somatomotor, pulvinar, insula, hypothalamus. | ||||
| vs. HC (only considering regions that differed between PPTH vs. Migraine; dynamic connectivity): somatosensory, lingual, middle cingulate, supramarginal, temporal pole, middle frontal. |
Studies investigating brain structure and regional cerebral blood flow demonstrate differences between those with PPTH vs. healthy controls and vs. those with migraine. Correlations between some of the structural measures with headache frequency provide additional evidence for a relationship between the structural changes with PPTH.
HC, healthy control subject; DTI, diffusion tensor imaging; MD, mean diffusivity; RD, radial diffusivity; CBF, cerebral blood flow; PPTH, persistent post-traumatic headache.