Migraine with aura is associated with an incomplete circle of willis: results of a prospective observational study

Abstract

Objective: To compare the prevalence of an incomplete circle of Willis in patients with migraine with aura, migraine without aura, and control subjects, and correlate circle of Willis variations with alterations in cerebral perfusion.

Methods: Migraine with aura, migraine without aura, and control subjects were prospectively enrolled in a 1∶1∶1 ratio. Magnetic resonance angiography was performed to examine circle of Willis anatomy and arterial spin labeled perfusion magnetic resonance imaging to measure cerebral blood flow. A standardized template rating system was used to categorize circle of Willis variants. The primary pre-specified outcome measure was the frequency of an incomplete circle of Willis. The association between circle of Willis variations and cerebral blood flow was also analyzed.

Results: 170 subjects were enrolled (56 migraine with aura, 61 migraine without aura, 53 controls). An incomplete circle of Willis was significantly more common in the migraine with aura compared to control group (73% vs. 51%, p = 0.02), with a similar trend for the migraine without aura group (67% vs. 51%, p = 0.08). Using a quantitative score of the burden of circle of Willis variants, migraine with aura subjects had a higher burden of variants than controls (p = 0.02). Compared to those with a complete circle, subjects with an incomplete circle had greater asymmetry in hemispheric cerebral blood flow (p = 0.05). Specific posterior cerebral artery variants were associated with greater asymmetries of blood flow in the posterior cerebral artery territory.

Conclusions: An incomplete circle of Willis is more common in migraine with aura subjects than controls, and is associated with alterations in cerebral blood flow.

Figure 1. Circle of Willis variant burden scores by group.

(MWA, migraine with aura; MwoA, migraine without aura).