title: Comorbidity between headache and epilepsy in a pediatric headache center.
abstract: The purpose of this study was to analyse the comorbidity between headache and epilepsy in a large series of children with headache (1,795). Fifty-six cases (3.1%) suffered from idiopathic headache and idiopathic or cryptogenic epilepsy or unprovoked seizures. There was a strong association between migraine and epilepsy: in migraineurs (46/56) the risk of epilepsy was 3.2 times higher when compared with tension-type headache, without significant difference between migraine with and without aura (P = 0.89); children with epilepsy had a 4.5-fold increased risk of developing migraine than tension-type headache. In cases with comorbidity, focal epilepsies prevailed (43/56, 76.8%). Migraineurs affected by focal epilepsies (36/56) had a three times higher risk of having a cryptogenic epilepsy (27/36, 75%) than an idiopathic epilepsy (9/36, 25%) (P = 0.003). In migraine with aura, epilepsy preceded migraine in 71% of cases. Photosensitivity (7/56, 12.5%) and positive family history for epilepsy (22/56, 39%) were frequent in cases with comorbidity.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, University of Padova, Padua, Italy. irene.toldo@unipd.it
authors.forename: Irene
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Toldo
authors.forename: Egle
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Perissinotto
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Menegazzo
authors.forename: Clementina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Boniver
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sartori
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Salviati
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Clementi
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Montagna
authors.forename: Pier Antonio
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Battistella
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000367:Age Factors; D017668:Age of Onset; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D020195:Epilepsy, Reflex / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000453:epidemiology; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D006306:Health Surveys; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018781:Tension-Type Headache / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000503:physiopathology; D055815:Young Adult