Migraine and idiopathic narcolepsy--a case-control study

In order to evaluate a possible association between migraine and idiopathic narcolepsy, we performed a multicentre case-control study on the comorbidity of narcolepsy and different headaches. In total, 96 patients with idiopathic narcolepsy were enrolled. The migraine frequency in the patients and in the control group was 21.9% and 19.8%, respectively (P = 0.722). The migraine features did not differ significantly between both groups. However, headache fulfilling the criteria for tension-type headache was significantly more often reported by narcolepsy patients than by the control group (60.3% vs. 40.7%, P= 0.006). We conclude that there is no association between migraine and narcolepsy but that patients with narcolepsy show more unspecific headache, probably due to sleep disturbances.