Effect of migraine attack on pupil size, accommodation and ocular aberrations

Purpose: To evaluate the pupil size, accommodation, and ocular higher-order aberrations (HOAs) in patients with migraine during migraine attacks and compare them with interictal period and healthy controls. Methods: This prospective, case–control study included 48 eyes of 24 patients with migraine and 48 eyes of 24 age and sex-matched healthy controls. Measurements were performed using a Hartmann Shack aberrometer. Accommodative responses to accommodative stimulus ranging from 0 to 5 diopters (D) in increments of 0.5 D were recorded. Spherical, coma, trefoil aberration, and root mean square (RMS) of total HOAs were assessed. Patients with migraine were measured twice during the interictal phase and during migraine attack. Results: The mean pupil size significantly decreased during migraine attack (5.85 ± 0.19 mm) compared with the interictal phase (6.05 ± 0.19 mm) in the patients with migraine (p = 0.012). There was a significant increase in the accommodative response to accommodative stimulus of 1.5 to 5 D during migraine attack. No significant change was observed in HOAs during migraine attack. In addition, no ictal or interictal period measurements were statistically significantly different from the controls. Comparing symptomatic and non-symptomatic sides in 17 migraine patients with unilateral headache, no significant difference was found in any of the measurements in both ictal and interictal periods. Conclusion: Our results suggest the presence of a subtle oculosympathetic hypofunction in patients with migraine during the ictal period compared to the interictal period. The accommodation status of the eye seems to be affected by this autonomic dysfunction.