Prevalence of red ear syndrome in juvenile primary headaches.
BACKGROUND
Previous studies have suggested a relationship between 'red ear syndrome' (RES) and pediatric migraine. Aims of this study were (i) to assess the frequency, specificity and sensitivity of RES in a population of pediatric migraineurs and (ii) to establish the pathophysiological mechanisms of RES associated with migraine.


RESULTS
A total of 226 children suffering from headache (aged 4-17 years) were enrolled. One hundred and seventy-two (76.4%) were affected by migraine, the remaining 54 (23.6%) by other primary headaches. RES was followed significantly more frequently by migraine (23.3%; p < .0001), and was characterized by high specificity and positive predictive value (96.3 and 95.3%, respectively). According to the univariate statistical analysis, RES showed a statistically significant association with male gender, throbbing quality of the pain, vomiting and phonophobia. It was confirmed by a multivariate stepwise logistic regression model only for the throbbing quality of the pain, vomiting and male gender.


CONCLUSIONS
Our study showed that (i) in children, RES is a highly specific sign for migraine. In addition, the evidence of an association of RES with some migraine features partially provoked by the parasympathetic system supports the hypothesis of a shared pathophysiological background (e.g. via the activation of the trigeminal-autonomic reflex).
U.O. di Neuropsichiatria Infantile, P.O. G. Di Cristina, Palermo, Italy. vinzi.raielk@inwind.it
V
V
Raieli
A
A
Compagno
F
F
Brighina
G
G
La Franca
D
D
Puma
D
D
Ragusa
G
G
Savettieri
M
M
D'Amelio
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004427:Ear Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000150:complications*; D015995:Prevalence