Migraine and complex seizures in children

Abstract

A diagnosis of migraine was made in 240 children referred to the Pediatric Neurology Service of the Children's Hospital of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, in a 6-year period from January 1975 to December 1980. Fifty-four of these children had seizures, and in this subgroup 19 (35%) had partial seizures with complex symptomatology. Fourteen of the 19 children had common migraine. Fourteen children had abnormalities in interictal EEGs; EEG findings included focal slow waves, sharp waves, and sharp-and-slow waves. The temporal regions were the sites of abnormality in 13 children. Calculation of the critical ratio and use of the two-sided test approach showed that the probability of seeing 19 children with migraine and complex seizures in our population on the basis of chance was extremely low (p = 0.0096). Our study suggests the presence of an association between migraine and partial seizures with complex symptomatology.