Perivascular spaces and headache: A population-based imaging study (HUNT-MRI).

BackgroundIn four previous clinic-based MRI studies headache sufferers (in particular migraineurs) had more perivascular spaces (PVS) than individuals who were headache-free.MethodsThe present study was part of a large longitudinal, epidemiological study (Nord-Trondelag Health Survey (HUNT)). The 1006 participants, age 50–65 years at inclusion, had participated in all previous HUNT surveys (1–3), and been randomly selected to a population-based imaging study of the head (HUNT-MRI, 2007–2009). The number of visible PVS in the basal ganglia (BG) and hemispheric white matter (HWM) was compared in headache sufferers (migraine with and without aura, non-migrainous headache) and people who were headache-free.ResultsThe results showed in general small differences between headache sufferers and headache-free participants. In the cross-sectional analysis migraineurs without aura had fewer PVS than headache-free individuals in BG (OR = 0.84, 95% CI = 0.76--0.94, p value = 0.003) and in BG and HWM together (OR = 0.9...