Periictal and interictal headache including migraine in Dutch patients with epilepsy: A cross-sectional study

As early as in 1898, it was noted that there was a need to find “a plausible explanation of the long recognized affinities of migraine and epilepsy”. However, results of recent studies are clearly conflicting on this matter. In this cross-sectional study, we aimed to define the prevalence and characteristics of both seizure-related and interictal headaches in patients with epilepsy (5-75 years) seeking help in the tertiary epilepsy clinic SEIN in Zwolle. Using a questionnaire, subjects were surveyed on the existence of headaches including characteristics, duration, severity, and accompanying symptoms. Furthermore, details on epilepsy were retrieved from medical records (e.g., syndrome, seizure frequency, and use of drugs). Diagnoses of migraine, tension-type headache, or unclassifiable headache were made based on criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. Between March and December 2013, 29 children and 226 adults were evaluated, 73% of whom indicated having current headaches, which is significantly more often when compared with the general population (p < 0.001). Forty-nine percent indicated having solely interictal headache, while 29% had solely seizure-related headaches and 22% had both. Migraine occurs significantly more often in people with epilepsy in comparison with the general population (p < 0.001), and the occurrence of tension-type headaches conforms to results in the general population. These results show that current headaches are a significantly more frequent problem amongst people with epilepsy than in people without epilepsy. When comparing migraine prevalence, this is significantly higher in the population of patients with epilepsy.