Association between epilepsy and headache

Objective

Similar clinical characteristics of epilepsy and migraine and the prevalence of their comorbidity have been investigated for years. The present study investigated the relationship between epilepsy and headache.

Methods

A total of 420 epilepsy patients, who visited epilepsy outpatient clinic within 6-month period between January 2016 and June 2016, were questioned whether they have headache. Age, gender, duration of epilepsy, type of seizures, and temporal relationship of headache with seizure were investigated in the patients with headache.

Results

Headache was detected in 111 (26%) of 420 epilepsy patients. The prevalence of migraine was 15%. When the temporal relationship of headache with seizure was evaluated, interictal headache was found to be the most common type with a percentage of 74.8%. No significant difference was determined between the patients with migraine and non-migraine headache in terms of age, gender, duration of epilepsy, age at the onset of epilepsy, type of seizure, and electroencephalography findings. The prevalence of interictal headache was statistically significantly higher in migraine patients as compared to that of non-migraine patients (p?<?0.001); however, the prevalence of preictal headache and the prevalence of postictal headache were significantly lower (p?=?0.001 and p?<?0.001, respectively).

Conclusion

The prevalence of headache and the prevalence of migraine, which are considered to be pathogenetically linked to epilepsy, were not different in epilepsy patients as compared to that of the general population. Different outcomes and percentages in other studies suggest that pathogenesis of headache is multifactorial and that different diagnostic criteria might have been taken into consideration.