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• Clinical Article •
Research on the application of automatic fiber quantification technique in detecting segmental alterations in cerebral white matter tracts in patients with migraine without aura in the ictal phase
QIU Jiamin  WANG Xinyi  ZHAI Changhong  ZHANG He  GUO Yaowen  LI Qian  LI Qinglong  CUI Yinglin  WANG Tongming 

Cite this article as: QIU J M, WANG X Y, ZHAI C H, et al. Research on the application of automatic fiber quantification technique in detecting segmental alterations in cerebral white matter tracts in patients with migraine without aura in the ictal phase[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(10): 21-27. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.004.


[Abstract] Objective To explore segmental microstructural alterations of cerebral white matter tracts in patients with migraine without aura (MwoA) in the ictal phase using automatic fiber quantification (AFQ), and to analyze the relationship between these alterations and clinical symptoms.Materials and Methods A total of 45 MwoA patients in the ictal phase (MwoA group) and 30 matched healthy controls (HC) were enrolled. Clinical data and MRI data were collected. AFQ technology was applied to analyze diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) data at both entire and nodal levels. Twenty white matter tracts across the brain were tracked, and 100 equidistant nodes were defined for each tract to calculate diffusion indices, including fractional anisotropy (FA), mean diffusivity (MD), axial diffusivity (AD), and radial diffusivity (RD). Two-sample t-tests were used to compare diffusion indices between groups, and partial correlation analysis was performed to assess the correlation between abnormal tract indices in the MwoA group and clinical scale scores.Results Compared with the HC group, at the entire level, the MwoA group exhibited increased MD and RD in the forceps minor of the corpus callosum (CF minor) (FDR correction, all P < 0.05). Nodal analysis revealed that the MwoA group exhibited decreased FA in the left inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus (IFOF), increased MD in the left thalamic radiation (TR), the CF minor, and the right IFOF, increased AD in the right IFOF, decreased AD in the left uncinate fasciculus (UF), and increased RD in the left TR and CF minor (FDR correction, all P < 0.05). Additionally, the mean AD and MD values of the abnormal segments in the right IFOF were positively correlated with headache impact test scores (r = 0.351, r = 0.331, all P < 0.05), while the mean AD value of the abnormal segments in the left UF was negatively correlated with migraine-specific quality of life questionnaire scores (r = -0.535, P < 0.001).Conclusions In the MwoA ictal period, patients exhibit segmental microstructural damage in multiple white matter fiber tracts. Segmental abnormalities in the right inferior fronto-occipital fasciculus and left uncinate fasciculus may be closely associated with the neuropathological mechanisms of MwoA in the ictal phase.
[Keywords] migraine without aura；ictal phase；magnetic resonance imaging；diffusion tensor imaging；automatic fiber quantification

QIU Jiamin1, 2   WANG Xinyi3   ZHAI Changhong2   ZHANG He2   GUO Yaowen2   LI Qian2   LI Qinglong2   CUI Yinglin4   WANG Tongming2*  

1 The Second Clinical Medical College of Henan University of Chinese Medicine, Zhengzhou 450046, China

2 Department of Magnetic Resonance, Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Traditional Chinese Medicine), Zhengzhou 450002, China

3 Department of Radiology, Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine), Zhengzhou 450002, China

4 Famous Doctor Hall, Henan Provincial Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine (The Second Affiliated Hospital of Henan University of Chinese Medicine), Zhengzhou 450002, China

Corresponding author: WANG T M, E-mail: w13526634558@163.com

Conflicts of interest   None.

Received  2025-06-26
Accepted  2025-10-08
DOI: 10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.004
Cite this article as: QIU J M, WANG X Y, ZHAI C H, et al. Research on the application of automatic fiber quantification technique in detecting segmental alterations in cerebral white matter tracts in patients with migraine without aura in the ictal phase[J]. Chin J Magn Reson Imaging, 2025, 16(10): 21-27. DOI:10.12015/issn.1674-8034.2025.10.004.

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