Key Question:
Are children with migraine more likely than their headache-free siblings to have impaired intellectual development?
Methods:
The authors studied 37 affected children and their siblings. All children with migraine fulfilled the revised International Headache Society criteria for pediatric migraine. None of the children with migraine had received long-term headache prophylaxis. The Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children was used to analyze sequential and simultaneous information processing.
Results:
On a "mental performance composite," there were no significant differences between children with migraine and their unaffected siblings. Nor were there significant differences between children with migraine with aura and those with migraine without aura. The authors also analyzed familial covariance, which also did not reveal significant differences. For children with migraine, then, no general risk for impaired cognitive development exists.
|
