[The presentation form of headache in children]. / Forma de presentación de las cefaleas en la infancia.

ABSTRACT

The purpose of the present study was to assess an retrospective analysis on 167 children with chronic or severe headache, ranged in age from 2 to 14 years (7.19 +/- 2.36 years old) who were referred to the pediatric neurology service of Virgen del Rocio Hospital of Sevilla from december 1992 to december 1994. The most common type of headache was migraine which constituted 43.91% of all these cases. Tension headache accounted for 27.71%. A family history of headache, primarily maternal, was found in 114 patients in whom it could be evaluated. Children with migraine had a greater proportion of mothers with a history of migraine than those with tension headache. No significant variations were observed between chronic evolution and acute. We conclude that headache is not uncommon in children and it treatment must be individualized and requires more than just the use of pharmacotherapy.