Abstract:Migraine is acommon chronic neurovascular disorder, its pathophysiological mechanisms are not fully understood. There are various clinical phenotypes of migraine, among which visual migraine may present as visual aura. Retinal migraine and ophthalmoplegic migraine also belong to the category of visual migraine. Optical coherence tomography(OCT)and optical coherence tomography angiography(OCTA)can be used to detect the circulation of retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell layer, optic papilla, retina and choroid qualitatively and quantitatively. Based on above two imaging findings, studies have addressed that during visual migraine pathogenesis, the transitory and recurrent constriction of the retinal and ciliary arteries, which may cause ischemic damage to the optic nerve, retina and choroid in patients with migraine, with the subsequent reduction in thickness of retinal nerve fiber layer, ganglion cell layer, and retinal microvasculature decrement. The fundus imaging examinations are helpful to improve our understanding on pathophysiological mechanisms of visual migraine, these imaging findings based on OCT and OCTA may serve as indicators to evaluate course and severity of visual migraine.
