[Recurring paroxysmal abdominal pains of cerebral origin]

Cerebral origin of relapsing paroxysmal abdominal pains is discussed in the light of six case histories, other personal observations and the literature. The pains are assumed to be due to locally limited epileptic discharges in areas of the cortex where the digestive tract is represented. When the neuronal discharges reach other brain formations, multisymptomatic, partial or generalized epileptic seizures occur. In such cases, therefore, the abdominal symptomatology is either a first stage or a rudiment of a more complex course of attack, and should not be considered as the expression of a particular form of epilepsy that might be termed abdominal epilepsy. Difficulties regarding differential diagnosis ensue in the case of migraine with abdominal symptomatology. The latter should be taken into account when relapsing attacks of abdominal pain, which cannot be explained gastroenterologically, persist for hours and alternate with headache. In case of doubt, a family history of migraine confirms the diagnosis.