Comparison of the EEG background activity of epileptic children and children with migraine.

The EEG background activity was investigated in the interictal EEGs of 19 children with migraine and of 88 patients with epilepsy of idiopathic origin in the third year of treatment. The control group consisted of 96 healthy children matched for age. Spectral analysis was performed, and parameters of the relative power within the conventional frequency bands were compared with norm data. The means of parameters representing the background activity of migraine as well as of epileptic patients significantly differed (slowing) from those of healthy controls. No significant differences were found between the main groups of migraine and epileptic patients. In comparing the subgroups of epileptic as well as of migraine patients, the composition of the background activity in migraine patients without aura differed the least from the controls. While the background activity in epileptics (especially those with an unfavourable course) showed a moderate slowing, a high degree of slowing was observed in patients with migraine accompagnée.