A short note in a long-standing discussion on the utility of EEG in patients with headache

Abstract

Headache, especially migraine, has long been associated with epilepsy, based on the common clinical features, pathophysiological mechanisms and therapeutic options of these disorders. Epilepsy and headache can exist independently in the same patient or correlate in different ways. The utility of routine electroencephalogram (EEG) in patients with headache is to exclude a possible ictal origin when atypical symptoms exist. However, EEG abnormalities in migraine have been reported by a number of authors over the years. Herein, we report a case of a patient with migraine and paroxysmal epileptiform discharges (EDs) in the EEG, in an effort to contribute to the investigation of association between headache and abnormal EEG findings.