Characteristic Features of Migraine in Schoolchildren and Adolescents and Its Relationship with Autonomic Nervous System Disorders

Abstract

The studies about autonomic nervous system (ANS) disorders in adult migraineurs show conflicting results with limited data on ANS function in childhood and adolescence. This study aimed to investigate ANS function in childhood migraine. The migraine and control groups consisted of 35 migraineurs and 30 healthy children, respectively. In both groups, heart rate interval variation (RRIV) and sympathetic skin response (SSR) were used as noninvasive ANS function tests. No significant differences in age and gender distribution were found between the study and control groups. A family history of migraine was seen in 65% patients in the study group and 20% in the control group. The duration, quality, frequency, and location of pain were variable; only 14.1% of the patients had sensory and visual aural symptoms. There was neither a significant difference in RRIV and SSR between migraine and control groups (p > 0.05) nor in heart rate responses to deep breathing (p = 0.83). The mean amplitude of SSR in children with migraine was smaller than that in the control group, but it did not reach a level of statistical significance. In children with migraine, our results demonstrate no abnormal ANS function related to either the sympathetic or the parasympathetic nervous system.