The comorbidity of headaches in pediatric epilepsy patients: How common and what types?
NEUROSCIENCES (RIYADH, SAUDI ARABIA) 2019;
24:284-289. [PMID:
31872807 PMCID:
PMC8015549 DOI:
10.17712/nsj.2019.4.20190043]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/15/2019] [Accepted: 07/31/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To estimate the prevalence and characteristics of headache in pediatric epileptic patients.
METHODS
This cross-sectional study was performed over 6 months period from January 2018 to June 2018 at King Abdullah Specialist Children Hospital, King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia using a structured questionnaire in pediatric patients with epilepsy.
RESULTS
There were 142 patients enrolled (males, 57.7%; average age, 10.7+/-3.1 years) with idiopathic epilepsy (n=115, 81%) or symptomatic epilepsy (n=27, 19%). Additionally, patients had focal epilepsy (n=102, 72%) or generalized epilepsy (n=40, 28%), and among them, 11 had absence epilepsy. Overall, 65 (45.7%) patients had headaches compared with 3/153 (2%) in the control group (p<0.0001). Among the 65 patients with headaches, 29 (44.6%) had migraine-type, 12 (18.4%) had tension-type, and 24 (36.9%) had unclassified headache. There was no significant difference in age, gender, type of epilepsy syndrome, and antiepileptic used except in patients with or without headache. For migraine patients, there was a lower headache prevalence in the subgroup treated with valproic acid compared with other treatments.
CONCLUSION
Headache, predominantly migraine, is a common problem in pediatric epileptic patients and choosing valproic acid when possible can be important in preventing migraine in these patients.
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