Cortical Sulcal Abnormalities Revealed by Sulcal Morphometry in Patients with Chronic and Episodic Migraine.

"Disclosure The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work."

"This study was supported by the 2019 “Xinglin Scholars” Subject Talent Research Promotion Plan (Project No: ZYTS2019028), Chengdu university of traditional Chinese medicine."

"In this cross-sectional study, patients with migraines were recruited from a convenience sample of patients seeking treatment at the outpatient clinic of the Department of Neurology, Hospital of Chengdu University of Traditional Chinese Medicine between April 2019 and April 2022. HCs were recruited via advertisements targeting local university and community members. All participants were right-handed and aged 18–65 years. Diagnoses of CM and EM were based on the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) criteria. Patients who fulfilled ICHD-3 diagnostic criteria for migraine, suffered from migraine for >1 year, and experienced headache attacks in the month preceding the initial visit were included in the study. Exclusion criteria were as follows: comorbidity with another type of headache, as defined by the ICHD-3 criteria (only tension-type-like headache <10 days a month was allowed); comorbidity with medication overuse headache; use of migraine prophylaxis in the past three months; pregnancy or lactation; diabetes mellitus, severe hypertension, major anxiety, or depression preceding the onset of headache (Hamilton anxiety scale [HAMA] ≥24 or Hamilton Depression Scale-17 items [HAMD-17] ≥24), other psychiatric disorders, stroke, or tumors; and having a condition incompatible with MRI, such as metallic or electric implants or claustrophobia. Criteria for inclusion in the HC group were as follows: no history of migraine or other primary headaches (only infrequent episodic tension-type headaches were allowed), no history of headache attacks in the previous month, and no cardiovascular or neurological diseases. This study is part of a larger research project, which was approved by the Medical Ethics Committee of the Chengdu University Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (2019KL-061) and registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (chiCTR1900028542). Subsequently, it has been expanded with an increased number of cases and the addition of an EM cohort. All participants provided written informed consent outlining the purpose, procedures, risks, rights, and data publication of the study. The study was conducted adhering to the ethical principles for medical research involving human subjects in the Declaration of Helsinki. Structural and functional imaging data of a subset of the subjects were previously published. This analysis serves as the primary assessment of sulcal morphological alterations in patients with CM and EM."