Interictal and periictal headache in patients with epilepsy: Migraine-triggered seizures or epilepsy-triggered headache?

摘要

Although a link between epilepsy and migraine has been claimed since 1907 because their clinical symptoms may overlap and a genetic susceptibility could explain this complex link [1], the hypothesis of co-morbidity of epilepsy and migraine in adults is mainly based on a single study that reported a 2.4-fold increased risk of migraine in a cohort of nearly 2000 patients with epilepsy compared with their relatives without epilepsy [2]. In this issue of the Journal, Duchaczek and associates investigate the frequency, clinical characteristics and treatment of periictal headache in patients with epilepsy, and they assess epidemiologically the concept of co-morbidity of epilepsy and interictal headache/migraine [3]. The authors raise some doubts on the widely held concept of co-morbidity of the two conditions, as in their study interictal headache and, in particular migraine, is not encountered more often in patients with epilepsy than expected in the general population [1].