0000000000326598

AUTHOR

D De Carlo

Headache attributed to aeroplane travel: the first multicentric survey in a paediatric population affected by primary headaches

BACKGROUND: This multicentric survey investigates the prevalence and characteristics of Airplane Headache in children affected by primary headaches. METHODS: Patients with symptoms of Airplane Headache were recruited from nine Italian Pediatric Headache Centres. Each patient was handed a structured questionnaire which met the ICHD-III criteria. RESULTS: Among 320 children suffering from primary headaches who had flights during their lifetime, 15 (4.7%) had Airplane Headache, with mean age of 12.4 years. Most of the patients were females (80%). The headache was predominantly bilateral (80%) and localized to the frontal area (60%); it was mainly pulsating, and lasted less than 30 min in all c…

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Osmophobia as an early marker of migraine: a follow-up study in juvenile patients.

Background: Osmophobia is frequent in children with migraine (20–35%) but can also occur in up to 14% of cases with tension-type headache (TTH). So far, the prognostic role of this symptom in children with primary headaches has never been evaluated. Methods: A longitudinal prospective study was conducted on 90 young patients with TTH (37 with osmophobia, 53 without osmophobia). We evaluated whether osmophobia could predict the diagnosis transformation from TTH to migraine after a 3-year follow-up. Results and Discussion: In our cases the rate of diagnosis change was significantly greater in cases with osmophobia (62%) than in those without (23%). Osmophobia persisted at a 3-year follow-up …

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Osmophobia in migraine classification: a multicentre study in juvenile patients.

Aims: This study was planned to investigate the diagnostic utility of osmophobia as criterion for migraine without aura (MO) as proposed in the Appendix (A1.1) of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II, 2004). Methods: We analysed 1020 patients presenting at 10 Italian juvenile headache centres, 622 affected by migraine (M) and 328 by tension-type headache (TTH); 70 were affected by headache not elsewhere classified (NEC) in ICHD-II. By using a semi-structured questionnaire, the prevalence of osmophobia was 26.9%, significantly higher in M than TTH patients (34.6% vs 14.3%). Results: Osmophobia was correlated with: (i) family history of M and osmophobia; and (ii) o…

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Ring 17 syndrome: first clinical report without intellectual disability

Ring chromosomes are rare abnormalities caused by the fusion of the telomeric regions. Three-ring chromosome syndromes (Cr 20, Cr 17 and Cr 14) cause epilepsy with variable phenotypes. In ring 17 patients with mild phenotype, some authors have shown an epilepsy syndrome similar to that of ring 20. We report the first case of a girl with ring chromosome 17 and a normal neurological and general cognitive profile. She had had, from 9 years old, focal pharmacoresistant epilepsy associated with episodes of non-convulsive status epilepticus with mainly autonomic features. Cytogenetic analysis revealed an abnormal karyotype characterised by the presence of de novo ring chromosome 17 in 19% of meta…

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Survey on treatments for primary headaches in 13 specialized juvenile Headache Centers: The first multicenter Italian study

Abstract Aim The purpose of this retrospective multicenter study was to evaluate the use and the self-perceived efficacy and tolerability of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments in children and adolescents with primary headaches. Methods Study of a cohort of children and adolescents diagnosed with primary headache, consecutively referred to 13 juvenile Italian Headache Centers. An ad hoc questionnaire was used for clinical data collection. Results Among 706 patients with primary headaches included in the study, 637 cases with a single type of headache (migraine 76% – with and without aura in 10% and 67% respectively; tension-type headache 24%) were selected (mean age at clinic…

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