Migraine and Migraine Equivalents in Children

Abstract

Migraine is one of the most common disorders seen in pediatric neurological practice. It may present with an obvious diagnosis of classical migraine or it may mimic acute neurological disease. It may require extensive investigation and, before the more classical full-blown features of migraine appear, there can be a worrying period of follow-up for the physician, wondering whether he has missed some serious pathology, especially in cases of hemiplegic and ophthalmoplegic migraine. Differentiation from epilepsy, particularly of psychomotor type, may be impossible. Migraine frequently presents as a stress reaction to school failure. If this underlying cause is unrecognized and uncorrected, the response to medication will be poor.