Journal
CEPHALALGIA
Volume 31, Issue 5, Pages 597-602Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/0333102410388437
Keywords
Red ear syndrome; pediatric migraine; trigeminal autonomic cephalgias; parasympathetic system; trigeminal-autonomic reflex
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Background: Previous studies have suggested a relationship between 'red ear syndrome' (RES) and pediatric migraine. Aims of this study were (i) to assess the frequency, specificity and sensitivity of RES in a population of pediatric migraineurs and (ii) to establish the pathophysiological mechanisms of RES associated with migraine. Methods and results: A total of 226 children suffering from headache (aged 4-17 years) were enrolled. One hundred and seventy-two (76.4%) were affected by migraine, the remaining 54 (23.6%) by other primary headaches. RES was followed significantly more frequently by migraine (23.3%; p < .0001), and was characterized by high specificity and positive predictive value (96.3 and 95.3%, respectively). According to the univariate statistical analysis, RES showed a statistically significant association with male gender, throbbing quality of the pain, vomiting and phonophobia. It was confirmed by a multivariate stepwise logistic regression model only for the throbbing quality of the pain, vomiting and male gender. Conclusions: Our study showed that (i) in children, RES is a highly specific sign for migraine. In addition, the evidence of an association of RES with some migraine features partially provoked by the parasympathetic system supports the hypothesis of a shared pathophysiological background (e. g. via the activation of the trigeminal-autonomic reflex).
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available