Special Issue "Pediatric Migraine: Clinical Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment"

A special issue of Journal of Clinical Medicine (ISSN 2077-0383). This special issue belongs to the section "Clinical Neurology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 25 August 2023 | Viewed by 1676

Special Issue Editors

Child Neuropsychiatry Unit, ISMEP, ARNAS Civico, Palermo, Italy.
Interests: aura and migraine; headaches in younger children; cranial autonomic symptoms and pediatric migraine; primary pediatric headaches
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Children Epilepsy and EEG Centre, S. Paolo Hospital, Bari, Italy
Interests: pediatric migraine; epilepsy in childhood; EEG and neurological diseases; fibromyalgia and children
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Migraine is a common and crippling neurological disorder in the paediatric population. Despite the significant amount of data on paediatric headaches, they continue to be an important challenge for clinicians. In fact, they are probably the most frequent neurological symptom because of the frequency with which children and adolescents are referred to a doctor or an emergency department. 

The child is not only a “little adult"; during childhood and adolescence, migraine can vary significantly according to different ages, not only in clinical and prognostic aspects but also in the response to therapy. There is also evidence that the pathophysiological mechanisms can depend on the patients' age and we can obtain new information through neurophysiological and functional instruments. Therefore, it would be important to have more information about its characteristic clinical aspects, especially in early childhood, the adaptability of the diagnostic criteria of the latest HIS classification, and the outcome at later ages. Furthermore, it is crucial to investigate possible changes in the COVID-19 era, related comorbidities, the response to pharmacological and non-pharmacological therapies, the functioning and role of placebos, etc.

The main aim of the present Special Issue is to collect clinical observations and experimental evidence showing the peculiarity of migraine at this early stage of life. We hope that this collection can help our fellow clinicians to recognize and efficaciously treat migraine in younger patients.

Dr. Vincenzo Raieli
Dr. Vittorio Sciruicchio
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Keywords

  • migraine
  • headache
  • preventive treatment
  • acute treatment
  • clinical features
  • children
  • aura
  • non pharmacological treatment
  • comorbidity
  • COVID-19 and migraine
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Editorial

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Editorial
Pediatric Migraine: Diagnosis and Management
J. Clin. Med. 2022, 11(24), 7252; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11247252 - 07 Dec 2022
Viewed by 634
Abstract
The WHO recognizes migraine as one of the most disabling diseases [...] Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Migraine: Clinical Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment)

Research

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Article
Evolution of Pediatric Migraine Patients Admitted at an Emergency Department after a 10-Year Follow-Up
J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(7), 2475; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12072475 - 24 Mar 2023
Viewed by 182
Abstract
Background: Despite its high prevalence, the clinical course of pediatric migraine has not been fully understood, and previous studies present conflicting results. We present here the findings of a 10-year follow-up study involving children with severe migraine pain admitted to our emergency department. [...] Read more.
Background: Despite its high prevalence, the clinical course of pediatric migraine has not been fully understood, and previous studies present conflicting results. We present here the findings of a 10-year follow-up study involving children with severe migraine pain admitted to our emergency department. Furthermore, all studies were carried out on selected outpatient clinical case studies. Our aim was to evaluate a population of migraine children admitted to an emergency department because of increased severity or frequency of pain or even because of very anxious parents concerning their child’s headache in order to describe their long-term outcomes, whether it differed from that of outpatient populations and to identify possible predictors of prognosis. Methods: We recruited 80 subjects with migraine headaches (mean age 8 years with a range of 4–14 years, 50% females), attending the baseline examination of a population admitted for a headache to the Emergency Department in the first half year of 2012. Of the 80 subjects, 48 (60%) were eligible for follow-up in 2022. We included in our study only patients diagnosed with migraine, according to the diagnostic criteria of the International Classification of Headache Disorders. All were contacted by telephone, and a semi-structured questionnaire was provided to them by email. The association between several possible prognostic factors (gender, familiar neurologic disorders, prenatal and perinatal disorders, social activities, sleep disorders, etc.) and the long-term persistence of migraine headaches were explored using logistic regression analysis. Results: Of 48 subjects with migraine headaches at baseline, 31 (65%) had persistent migraine, and 17 (35%) experienced remission. The preliminary results showed that the presence of neurologic disorders in parents (p < 0.01—odds ratio 9.34 (2.53–41.64) and sleep disorders (p < 0.01—odds ratio 13.18 (2.25–252.74) significantly predicted the 10-year persistence of migraine headaches, while the other considered predictors were found not to influence prognosis. Conclusions: To our knowledge, this was the first study conducted on a selected pediatric population upon admission to the emergency room. Our study suggests that a population of pediatric migraine selected for admission to the emergency department also shows a favorable long-term prognosis, like the studies conducted in the outpatient sample. Familial neurological comorbidity and sleep disorders were unfavorable factors for predicting good outcomes. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Migraine: Clinical Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment)
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Article
Real Life Data on OnabotulinumtoxinA for Treatment of Chronic Migraine in Pediatric Age
J. Clin. Med. 2023, 12(5), 1802; https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm12051802 - 23 Feb 2023
Viewed by 430
Abstract
Background: The use of OnabotulinumtoxinA (OBT-A) for the treatment of chronic migraine (CM) in adults represents a therapy with the greatest efficacy and safety data. However, we have little evidence on the use of OBT-A in children or adolescents. The present study aims [...] Read more.
Background: The use of OnabotulinumtoxinA (OBT-A) for the treatment of chronic migraine (CM) in adults represents a therapy with the greatest efficacy and safety data. However, we have little evidence on the use of OBT-A in children or adolescents. The present study aims to describe the experience with OBT-A in the treatment of CM in adolescents in an Italian third-level headache center. Methods: The analysis included all patients under the age of 18 treated with OBT-A for CM at the Bambino Gesù Children’s Hospital. All patients received OBT-A following the PREEMPT protocol. Subjects were classified as good responders if a greater than 50% reduction in the monthly frequency of attacks was observed, partial responders if the reduction was between 30 and 50%, and non-responders if it was <30%. Results: The treated population consisted of 37 females and 9 males with a mean age of 14.7 years. Before starting OBT-A, 58.7% of the subjects had attempted prophylactic therapy with other drugs. From OBT-A initiation to the last clinical observation, the mean duration of follow-up was 17.6 ± 13.7 SD (range: 1–48) months. The number of OBT-A injections were 3.4 ± 3 SD. Sixty eight percent of the subjects responded to treatment within the first three administrations of OBT-A. Proceeding with the number of administrations, a progressive improvement in frequency was further observed. Conclusions: The use of OBT-A in pediatric age can have benefits in terms of reduction in the frequency and intensity of headache episodes. Furthermore, treatment with OBT-A has an excellent safety profile. These data support the use of OBT-A in the treatment of childhood migraine. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Pediatric Migraine: Clinical Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment)
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

1. Title: Ten years of follow-up in a sample of pediatric migrainous children admitted at an Emergency Department.

2. Title: The abdominal variants of migraine in children.

3. Title: Visual Disturbances Spectrum in Pediatric Migraine.

4. Title: Family history for major cardiovascular events in children with migraine: a 12-year retrospective single-center study.

5. Title: Headache and psychological comorbidities: An appraisal of the state of evidence.

 
 
 
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