Headache etiology in children: a retrospective study of 125 cases.

BACKGROUND

To determine the headache etiology in children in the middle Anatolia region of Turkey.

METHODS

The clinical and laboratory findings of 125 patients, who were followed up after a diagnosis of headache in our hospital, were reviewed retrospectively. The criteria defined by the International Headache Society (IHS) were used in the classification of patients. The patients were divided into two subgroups according to age intervals: (i) group 1, 5-10 years of age; and (ii) group II, 11-16 years of age.

RESULTS

There were 62 males and 63 females in the study. The patients' ages ranged from 5 to 16 years (mean (+/- SD) age 10.67+/-2.72 years). Headache was more commonly noted between 11 and 16 years of age. While headache was more frequent in male children in group I, there was female predominance in group II. However, there was no significant difference between the groups with respect to age and gender (P>0.05). The most frequent cause of headache was migraine and the remaining causes, in decreasing order, included sinusitis (no. 11 according to IHS criteria) and tension-type and psychosomatic headaches (no. 13 according to IHS criteria). Of the 125 patients in the study, 85 (68%) had acute headache and 40 (32%) had chronic headache; 44 (35.2%) patients had acute localized-type headache, 39 (31.2%) suffered from acute recurrent-type headache, 38 (30.4%) had chronic non-progressive headache and acute generalized and chronic progressive-type headache were diagnosed in two (1.6%) patients. Computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the brain were performed in 50 and seven patients, respectively; there were abnormal findings in six patients on CT examiniation and in two patients following MRI.

CONCLUSIONS

In conclusion, we stress that the most frequent cause of headache in childhood is migraine and the remaining causes, in decreasing order of frequency, were sinusitis and tension-type and psychosomatic headaches. Neuroimaging studies, such as CT or MRI, need to be performed, especially in patients with complicated symptoms.