Pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents suffering from migraine.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to evaluate the presence of pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents with migraine.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Pressure-painful points on scalp arteries were searched in 130 consecutive children (6-12 years old) and adolescents (>13 years old) affected with migraine, 89 females and 41 males, and in 40 age-matched controls.

RESULTS

In the absence of a migraine episode, we examined 76 patients: 54 (71.1%) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 22 reported none. Of the 40 controls, pressure-painful arteries were present in 11, with a highly significant difference (p < 0.0001). During a migraine attack, of the 54 patients examined, 43 (79.6 %) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 11 reported none. The arteries most frequently painful were the frontal branch and the superficial temporal artery.

CONCLUSIONS

Scalp arteries are frequently painful on pressure in children and adolescents with migraine, both in the absence of and during a migraine attack. Painful arteries suggest hypersensitivity of periarterial nociceptive afferents.