Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Diagnosis of Headache in Children and Adolescents

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
The Cleveland Clinic Manual of Headache Therapy

Abstract

This chapter reviews the evaluation and diagnosis of children and adolescents who present with episodic migraine and its subtypes. The first part of the chapter describes the evaluation of headaches in children and adolescents. Clinical pearls on common temporal patterns, likelihood of secondary headache, proper examination, and shortcuts to diagnosis are presented.

An extensive section on pediatric headache characteristics and diagnosis is provided to expedite diagnosis. Guidelines on ancillary pediatric workup are provided, in particular when and how to look for secondary causes of headache.

Key epidemiologic features of pediatric headache that bear on diagnosis are summarized. Crucial diagnostic criteria for pediatric episodic migraine with and without aura are reviewed. The chapter concludes with a discussion of pediatric hemiplegic migraine and migraine with brainstem aura, formerly called basilar-type migraine.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Suggested Reading

  • Bigal ME, Lipton RB. Migraine at all ages. Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2006;10:207–213.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bille B. Migraine in Children and its prognosis. Cephalalgia. 1981;71:1–5

    Google Scholar 

  • Cleves C, Parikh S, Rothner AD, Tepper SJ. Link between confusional migraine, hemiplegic migraine and episodic ataxia type 2: hypothesis, family genealogy, gene typing and classification. Cephalalgia. 2010;30:740-3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hershey AD. What is the Impact, Prevalence, Disability, and Quality of Life of Pediatric Headache? Current Pain and Headache Reports. 2005;9:341–344.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lipton RB, Stewart W. Migraine headaches: epidemiology and comorbidity. Clinical Neuroscience. 1998; 5:2–9.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mortimer J, Kay J, Jaron A. Epidemiology of headache and childhood migraine in an urban general practice using ad hoc, Valquist and IHS criteria. Dev Med Child Neurol. 1992, 34:1095–1101.

    Google Scholar 

  • Safier R. Cleves-Bayon C, Vaisleib I, Siddiqui A, Zuccoli G. Magnetic Resonance Angiography Evidence of vasospasm in children with suspected acute hemiplegic migraine. Journal of Child Neurology. 2013; online publication April 26, 2013.

    Google Scholar 

  • Silanpaa M. Headache in teenagers: comorbidity and prognosis. Functional Neurology. 2000;15:116–121.

    Google Scholar 

  • Szyszkowicz M, Kaplan GG, Grafstein E, Rowe BH. Emergency department visits for migraine and headache: a multi-city study. International Journal of Occupational Medicine and Environmental Health. 2009;22:235–242.

    Google Scholar 

  • Virtanen R., Aromaa M, Rautuva P, Metsähonkala L, Anttila P, Helenius H, Sillanpää M. Changing headache from preschool age to puberty: A controlled study. Cephalalgia. 2007;27:294–303.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winner P, Lewis DW, Rothner AD. Headache in Children and Adolescents. Second edition. Hamilton, Ontario: BC Decker Inc; 2008.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Headache Program, Division of Child Neurology, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, 4401 Penn Ave, 15224, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Catalina Cleves-Bayon MD

  2. Pediatric Neurology, Cleveland Clinic, 9500 Euclid Ave, 44195, Cleveland, OH, USA

    A. David Rothner MD

Authors
  1. Catalina Cleves-Bayon MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. A. David Rothner MD
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Catalina Cleves-Bayon MD .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Cleveland Clinic Headache Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Stewart J. Tepper

  2. Cleveland Clinic Headache Center, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

    Deborah E. Tepper

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2014 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Cleves-Bayon, C., Rothner, A. (2014). Diagnosis of Headache in Children and Adolescents. In: Tepper, S., Tepper, D. (eds) The Cleveland Clinic Manual of Headache Therapy. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04072-1_8

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-04072-1_8

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-04071-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-04072-1

  • eBook Packages: MedicineMedicine (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation