IS ABDOMINAL-PAIN A FEATURE OF ADULT MIGRAINE

Recurrent abdominal pain in children, frequently diagnosed as ''abdomi nal migraine,'' is thought to evolve into more typical migraine headac he during the teens and twenties. If this transformation occurred. we would expect some adult migraineurs to retain abdominal pain; but we c ould not recall this symptom being mentioned by patients. However, wit hout direct questioning the absence cannot be assumed. We, therefore. asked 100 migraineurs about abdominal symptoms during migraine attacks : only one experienced unexplained abdominal pain. We conclude that ab dominal pain is not a feature in adult migraineurs, leading us to supp ort the notions that: (1) recurrent abdominal pain of childhood has a number of causes; (2) abdominal migraine may be an incorrect attributi on and is liable to be over diagnosed; (3) abdominal migraine requires more precise definition; (4) the transition from childhood abdominal migraine to adult migraine needs precise prospective study.