A child with chronic migraine without aura

Abstract

Chronic migraine (CM) is a type of chronic daily headache. CM is a new addition to the classification of headache disorders and describes patients with headache attacks on at least 15 days per month of which at least 8 days of headaches are typical of migraine over at least 3 months. CM is presented here as a separate entity in order to highlight the complexity of its diagnosis and the challenges in its management in children and adolescents. CM can be associated with other complicating factors such as medication overuse and also other psychological and emotional comorbidities that need to be addressed as well as treating the headache. The prevalence of CM in adolescents is estimated at around 1 %, but it is probably less common in younger children. The importance of CM lies in its high negative impact on quality of life and the difficulties in achieving good control of the headache. The aims of the treatment should be to reverse the chronic nature of the migraine to an episodic one that may be more responsive to treatment.