The prognosis of childhood abdominal migraine

Aims-To determine the clinical course of childhood abdominal migraine, seve n to 10 years after the diagnosis. Methods-A total of 54 children with abdominal migraine were studied; 35 wer e identified from a population survey carried out on Aberdeen schoolchildre n between 1991 and 1993, and 19 from outpatient records of children in the same age group who had attended the Royal Aberdeen Children's Hospital. Con trols were 54 children who did not have abdominal pain in childhood, matche d for age and sex, obtained from either the population survey or the patien t administration system. Main outcome measures were presence or resolution of abdominal migraine and past or present history of headache fulfilling th e International Headache Society (IHS) criteria for the diagnosis of migrai ne. Results-Abdominal migraine had resolved in 31 cases (61%). Seventy per cent of cases with abdominal migraine were either current (52%) or previous (18 %) sufferers from headaches that fulfilled the IHS criteria for migraine, c ompared to 20% of the controls. Conclusions-These results support the concept of abdominal migraine as a mi graine prodrome, and suggest that our diagnostic criteria for the condition are robust.