Chronic Migraine in the Pediatric Population – Lessons Learned

Abstract

In predisposed individuals, migraine evolves into a stage of daily or nearly daily headaches, known as chronic migraine. Although relatively prevalent and debilitating at all ages, chronic migraine is particularly aggressive in the pediatric population. Several risk factors for chronic migraine have been identified, largely due to two very large longitudinal studies, the American Migraine Prevalence and Prevention Study (AMPP) and the Attention Brazil Project (ABP). This review summarizes lessons learned from these studies that included children from 5 to 19 years of age. We start by contextualizing chronic migraine and by offering a systematic approach to diagnosis. We then discuss pre-natal and post-natal risk factors for migraine transformation, and close by reviewing treatment strategies, ultimately attempting to offer a meaningful overview of chronic migraine in pre-adults based on our experience conducting these studies.