Homogeneous clinical subgroups in children with Tourette syndrome.

The existence of two clinically homogeneous subgroups in Tourette syndrome, depending upon the presence or absence of migraine or a family history of migraine, is suggested. Patients with Tourette syndrome who have migraine (n = 18) were found to have a significantly higher prevalence of disorders of arousal--particularly sleepwalking and night terrors--as well as a higher prevalence of motion sickness than patients without migraine (n = 27). They were also significantly more likely to exhibit a co-occurrence of associated features (two or more) than the patients without migraine. Patients with Tourette syndrome who have not had migraine headaches but in whom there is a family history for migraine (n = 20) were shown to have an intermediate prevalence of associated symptoms. It is suggested that the differential association for these symptoms in patients with Tourette syndrome may reflect an underlying abnormality in function of two different neurotransmitter systems.