Abstracts

Rationale: Studies on the comorbidity of migraine and epilepsy have shown conflicting results. We wanted to explore the epidemiological association between migraine and seizure disorders in a population-based material where case ascertainment was enhanced by individual specialist assessments. Methods: Information concerning seizure disorders and migraine was collected from 1793 participants in an interview-based survey. Mixed headache with features both of migraine without aura and tension-type headache was excluded from the analyses due to its ambiguous character (n=137). Thus, data from 1656 participants were included in the study. Results: The number of subjects with epilepsy was small and a statistically significant association between migraine and the diagnosis of epilepsy was not found. There was a tendency to more active epilepsy in subjects with migraine (1.0%, 5/524) compared to subjects without migraine (0.5%, 6/1132). Migraine was present in 5 of 11 subjects with active epilepsy (45%) and in 4 of 28 (14%) with epilepsy in remission (p=0.09). Conclusions: This study supports previous findings of an overall weak genetic link between migraine and the diagnosis of epilepsy. The association between migraine and active seizures appears to be stronger.