Clinical factors associated with post-ictal headache in patients with epilepsy.

OBJECTIVES

To determine the incidence of post-ictal headaches (PIH) and clinical risk factors associated with the occurrence of PIH in patients with localization-related epilepsy.

MATERIALS AND

METHODS

The subjects were 77 patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE), 34 patients with occipital lobe epilepsy (OLE), and 50 patients with frontal lobe epilepsy (FLE). The subjects were directly asked whether headaches occurred just after seizures. Medical charts were reviewed to ascertain the clinical characteristics of epilepsy in these patients.

RESULTS

The incidence of PIH was 23% for TLE, 62% for OLE, and 42%, for FLE. The risk of PIH was significantly higher for OLE than for TLE or FLE, and for patients with generalized tonic-clonic seizures. Younger age at onset of epilepsy was also a risk factor for PIH.

CONCLUSION

The occurrence of PIH may be related to the region of epileptic focus and the region of spread of epileptic discharges.