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Headache etiology in children: a retrospective study of 125 cases
1Department of Pediatrics, Ankara University School of Medicine, Turkey. gulhisdeda@hotmail.com
Insights
Migraine is the most common cause of headaches in children in Turkey, followed by sinusitis and tension-type headaches. Neuroimaging is recommended for complicated cases.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Neurology
- Clinical Epidemiology
Background:
- Headache is a common complaint in children, with varying etiologies globally.
- Understanding regional prevalence is crucial for targeted diagnosis and treatment.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify the primary causes of headaches in pediatric patients in Turkey's Middle Anatolia region.
- To analyze the demographic and clinical characteristics of childhood headaches.
Main Methods:
- Retrospective review of 125 pediatric patients diagnosed with headache.
- Classification based on International Headache Society (IHS) criteria.
- Age stratification into two groups: 5-10 years and 11-16 years.
Main Results:
- Migraine was the most frequent diagnosis, followed by sinusitis and tension-type/psychosomatic headaches.
- Headaches were more prevalent in adolescents (11-16 years).
- Gender prevalence shifted from males in younger children to females in older children.
Conclusions:
- Migraine is the leading headache etiology in this pediatric cohort.
- Sinusitis and tension-type headaches are significant secondary causes.
- Neuroimaging (CT/MRI) is advised for children presenting with complex headache symptoms.
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.