Pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents suffering from migraine

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to evaluate the presence of pressure-painful scalp arteries in children and adolescents with migraine. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Pressure-painful points on scalp arteries were searched in 130 consecutive children (6-12 years old) and adolescents (>13 years old) affected with migraine, 89 females and 41 males, and in 40 age-matched controls. RESULTS: In the absence of a migraine episode, we examined 76 patients: 54 (71.1%) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 22 reported none. Of the 40 controls, pressure-painful arteries were present in 11, with a highly significant difference (p < 0.0001). During a migraine attack, of the 54 patients examined, 43 (79.6 %) reported one or more pressure-painful arteries and 11 reported none. The arteries most frequently painful were the frontal branch and the superficial temporal artery. CONCLUSIONS: Scalp arteries are frequently painful on pressure in children and adolescents with migraine, both in the absence of and during a migraine attack. Painful arteries suggest hypersensitivity of periarterial nociceptive afferents.