[Migraine and somnambulism. A survey of 122 migraine patients]

A retrospective study looking for an history of somnambulism in childhood, in a population of 122 patients with migraine, and 110 patients with non-migraine headache has been performed. A very high frequency of somnambulism in patients with migraine was found whereas frequency of somnambulism in patients with non-migraine headache was similar to that of the general population. The probability that a sleepwalking child acquires a migraine is greater when she is a girl. Migraine is then often of the ophthalmic type. Somnambulism and migraine appear at different ages, the former in the late infancy, the latter in childhood and both could be due to a disorder of serotonin metabolism. The authors suggest that somnambulism be considered as an accessory criterion for the diagnosis of migrainous disease.