Comorbidity between headache and epilepsy in a Chinese epileptic center.
Here we investigated the characteristics and prevalence of headaches in patients with epilepsy in a Chinese epileptic center based on the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition. We found that 60.14% (667/1109) of patients reported headaches. Headache was less prevalent in males (57.17%) than in females (63.75%). Interictal headaches were present in 34.62% of patients, and 139/1109 (12.53%) patients had interictal migraine, which was a higher percentage than reported in a large population-based study from the same area (9.3%) using the same screening question. In addition, 469 (70.31%) patients had postictal headache, migraine characteristics were present in 73.35% of these patients, and 15.35% also suffered from interictal migraine. Lastly, 8.85% patients had preictal headache. These results confirm that headache is very common in patients with epilepsy. Seizures often trigger postictal headaches with migraine features. The comorbidity of migraines and epilepsy should receive clinical attention, as it may influence antiepileptic drug choice, and the headache may require specific treatment.
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: bjxqwang@yahoo.com.cn.
Xiang-Qing
XQ
Wang
Department of Psychology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Sen-Yang
SY
Lang
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Xu
X
Zhang
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Fei
F
Zhu
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Min
M
Wan
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Xiao-Bing
XB
Shi
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Yun-Feng
YF
Ma
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China.
Mian-Wang
MW
He
Department of Neurology, Chinese PLA General Hospital, No. 28, Fuxing Road, Beijing 100853, China. Electronic address: yusy1963@126.com.
Sheng-Yuan
SY
Yu
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000927:Anticonvulsants / Q000627:therapeutic use; D002681:China / Q000453:epidemiology; D004827:Epilepsy / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010045:Outpatients; D011446:Prospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult
D000927:Anticonvulsants
Epilepsy; Headache; Interictal headache; Migraine; Postictal headache; Preictal headache