Differentiating White Matter Lesions in Multiple Sclerosis and Migraine Using Monoexponential and Biexponential Diffusion Measurements

PurposeTo compare the white matter lesions seen in multiple sclerosis and migraine using monoexponential and high b-value biexponential diffusion measurements. Materials and MethodsDiffusion-weighted images were acquired on a 3.0-Tesla magnetic resonance imaging system. Diffusion parameters were estimated using monoexponential (0-1000 s/mm(2)) and biexponential (0-5000 s/mm(2)) approaches from 15 multiple sclerosis patients, 15 patients with migraine and 15 healthy control subjects. The study was performed in accordance with the approval of the Regional Research Ethics Committee. The apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values were measured in the lesions and the normal-appearing white matter of patients and in the white matter of controls. ResultsHigh lesional ADC(mono) values were detected in both patient groups without significant differences between the groups (10.72 and 9.86 x 10(-4) mm(2)/s for MS and migraine respectively, P=0.2134). The biexponential measurements showed significantly higher ADC(fast), ADC(slow), and P-slow values in the migraine lesions than in the multiple sclerosis lesions (16.47 versus 14.29, 1.41 versus 0.76, and 20.34 versus 12.01 all values in 10(-4) mm(2)/s; P=0.0344, P=0.0019, P=0.0021, respectively). ConclusionBiexponential diffusion analysis may help to differentiate multiple sclerosis-related white matter lesions from migraine-related ones. J. Magn. Reson. Imaging 2015;41:676-683. (c) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.