Migraine of gastrointestinal origin.
A consecutive series of 31 children (median age 12 years) suffering from migraine with (n = 21) or without (n = 10) aura underwent endoscopic oesophageal, gastric and duodenal biopsy in order to determine whether the complaints were of gastro-intestinal origin. Of these 31 children, 13 (41.9%) showed oesophagitis, 16 (51.6%) gastritis of corpus, 12 (38.7%) antral gastritis and 27 (87.1%) duodenitis. Thus, 29 of the 31 children studied had an underlying inflammatory lesion explaining their complaints. Helicobacter pylori colonization was found in 7 of the children: one had H. pylori associated antral and corporal gastritis and 6 H. pylori associated antral gastritis only. Gastritis of corpus without H. pylori was present in all these 6 children. Our data do not support that H. pylori is a primary pathogen of inflammatory changes seen in children studied, neither do they establish an association between H. pylori, antral gastritis and migraine. However, our data strongly suggest that there is a gastro-intestinal origin of these patients' complaints.


CONCLUSIONS
Our findings provide further evidence that recurrent abdominal pain is an early expression of migraine and strongly support a causal link between recurrent abdominal pain and migraine.
Mavromichalis
I
I
Second Pediatric Department, Aristotelian University of Thessaloniki, AHEPA General Hospital, Greece.
Zaramboukas
T
T
Giala
M M
MM
D015746:Abdominal Pain / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D001706:Biopsy; D002648:Child; D004382:Duodenitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016099:Endoscopy, Gastrointestinal; D004941:Esophagitis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D005756:Gastritis / Q000150:complications* / Q000188:drug therapy; D016480:Helicobacter pylori / Q000302:isolation & purification; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*; D011899:Ranitidine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D012008:Recurrence; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D016896:Treatment Outcome
D011899:Ranitidine