Cerebrovascular Reactivity Measures Are Associated With Post-traumatic Headache Severity in Chronic TBI; A Retrospective Analysis (original) (raw)

ObjectiveTo characterize the relationship between persistent post-traumatic headache (pPTH) and traumatic cerebrovascular injury (TCVI) in chronic traumatic brain injury (TBI). Cerebrovascular reactivity (CVR), a measure of the cerebral microvasculature and endothelial cell function, is altered both in individuals with chronic TBI and migraine headache disorder (Amyot et al., 2017; Lee et al., 2019b). The pathophysiologies of pPTH and migraine are believed to be associated with chronic microvascular dysfunction. We therefore hypothesize that TCVI may contribute to the underlying migraine-like mechanism(s) of pPTH.Materials and Methods22 moderate/severe TBI participants in the chronic stage (>6 months) underwent anatomic and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) scanning with hypercapnia gas challenge to measure CVR as well as the change in CVR (ΔCVR) after single-dose treatment of a specific phosphodiesterase-5 (PDE-5) inhibitor, sildenafil, which potentiates vasodilation ...