Migraine with aura might lead to epilepsy

Children suffering from migraine with aura have an increased risk of developing epilepsy. Researchers from the Columbia University, New York found that a possible association between migraine and epilepsy has long been recognised, but the exact relationship is not clear. This study shows that the relationship between epilepsy and migraine is strong, but only for migraine with aura, which accounts for only about 30 percent of all migraines. Epidemiological studies have shown that the risk of migraine is about twice as great in adults with epilepsy as compared to those without it. The researchers therefore hypothesised that children with migraine may have a higher risk of developing seizures and epilepsy. The researchers identified 94 Icelandic children between 9 and 15 years of age who experienced a first unprovoked seizure and had newly diagnosed epilepsy. These children were matched for age and sex with another 188 unrelated children without a history of seizures and this group served as the healthy controls. The investigators used a structured interview to assess headache symptoms in children. Rather than using five or more migraine-like headaches to classify children with migraine, as stipulated by the International Headache Society, the researchers used two or more episodes of migraine-like headache to diagnose migraine. Visual symptoms were used to define aura. Overall, children with migraine had a nearly 4 fold increased risk of developing epilepsy. There was no increased risk in children with migraine without aura - the increased risk was restricted to those who had migraine with aura. This finding is consistent with the hypothesis that migraine with aura and migraine without aura might be different disorders. Not only do the two conditions co-exist, but, at least in children, migraine precedes epilepsy.