Pattern Reversal and Flash Visual Evoked Potentials in Patients with Migraine and Tension-Type Headache

Abstract

Objective: Migraine and tension-type headache (TTH) are the most common primary headaches. It was aimed to obtain information about the pathophysiology of these primary headaches by performing visual evoked potentials (VEPs) to patients with migraine and TTH. Material and Methods: Healthy individuals, episodic migraine, and episodic TTH patients were included in this prospective study. Pattern reversal and flash VEPs were performed to all participants. VEP was applied while the patients were in the interictal period. In addition, headache severity of migraine and TTH patients were analyzed with Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: Thirty-one healthy individuals, 27 TTH patients, and 31 migraine patients were included in the study. Age and gender were not different between the groups (p>0.05). VAS scores of migraine patients (8.0±1.2) were higher than those of TTH patients (6.5±1.1) (p <0.001). The mean right/left P100 wave latencies of control, TTH, and migraine patients were 89.8±7.5/91.0 ± 6.2, 91.0±4.9/91.3±5.2, 97.6±8.1/97.1±7.5 ms, respectively. The mean right/left P2 wave latencies of control, TTH, and migraine patients were 104.7±15.9/104.8±14.5, 98.6±11.5/98.7±10.8, 115.5±16.3/118.3±6.2 ms, respectively. The latencies of P100, P2, N3, and P3 waves in migraine group were higher than those in TTH and control groups (p<0.05). Conclusion: This study showed that migraine patients had higher VEP latencies than controls and episodic TTH patients. These findings may indicate that central mechanisms as well as peripheral mechanisms play a role in the pathophysiology of migraine and that episodic TTH originates from peripheral tissues.