The magnetic resonance imaging scans of a cohort of children (n = 89) and adolescents, ages 6 to 18聽years, who participated in a study of migraine and patent foramen ovale were reviewed. All children in the cohort had undergone saline contrast transthoracic echocardiography and transcranial Doppler studies.
White matter lesions were detected in 15 of the 89 patients (17%). White matter lesions were small (<5聽mm) in the majority (10/15; 66%). We observed no relationship between the presence of white matter lesions and (1) migraine type (six patients with white matter lesions among 35 with migraine with aura [17%] vs. nine with white matter lesions among 54 without aura [17%]; P聽=聽1.0); (2) patent foramen ovale (five with white matter lesions among 35 with patent foramen ovale [14%] vs. 10 with white matter lesions among 54 without patent foramen ovale [19%]; P聽=聽0.77); or (3) shunt size (two large shunts in 15 with white matter lesions [13%] vs. nine large shunts among 72 without white matter lesions [13%]; P聽=聽1.0).
These results indicate that small white matter lesions are not infrequent in children and adolescents with migraine. However, no relationships between white matter lesions and migraine type, patent foramen ovale, or degree of right-to-left shunting were observed.