title: Pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents suffering from migraine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  This study aimed to evaluate the presence of pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents with migraine.
  
  
  METHODS
  Pressure-painful points on scalp arteries were searched in 130 consecutive children (6-12 years old) and adolescents (>13 years old) affected with migraine, 89 females and 41 males, and in 40 age-matched controls.
  
  
  RESULTS
  In the absence of a migraine episode, we examined 76 patients: 54 (71.1%) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 22 reported none. Of the 40 controls, pressure-painful arteries were present in 11, with a highly significant difference (p < 0.0001). During a migraine attack, of the 54 patients examined, 43 (79.6 %) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 11 reported none. The arteries most frequently painful were the frontal branch and the superficial temporal artery.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Scalp arteries are frequently painful on pressure in children and adolescents with migraine, both in the absence of and during a migraine attack. Painful arteries suggest hypersensitivity of periarterial nociceptive afferents.
authors.affiliation: Neuropsichiatria Infantile, Azienda Ospedaliera-Universitaria, Italy. cianchet@unica.it
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cianchetti
authors.forename: Maria Celeste
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Serci
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Madeddu
authors.forename: Silvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cossu
authors.forename: Maria Giuseppina
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Ledda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D010147:Pain Measurement / Q000379:methods*; D010173:Palpation / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D013699:Temporal Arteries / Q000503:physiopathology*; D055815:Young Adult