Hemiplegic migraines are characterised by attacks of migraine with aura accompanied by transient motor weakness. There are both familial and sporadic subtypes, which are now recognised as separate entities by the International Classification of Headache Disorders, edition II (ICHD-II). Sporadic hemiplegic migraine is a rare variant of migraine, We report a case of sporadic hemiplegic migraine a...

Background. Hemiplegic migraine is a rare type of migraine that may present in children and adolescents. Both familial and sporadic hemiplegic migraines have similar prevalence and clinical characteristics. Patient. We report an adolescent with sporadic hemiplegic migraine who previously had a similar attack in the past and who was initially evaluated for a possible acute ischemic event. Result...

A 17-year-old boy developed diffuse throbbing headache of 36 hours duration associated with photophobia and phonophobia. Twelve hours later, he developed dysarthria and rightsided weakness. He had a similar episode 5 months ago with resolution of symptoms in 24 hours, following which he was put on prophylactic sodium valproate 300 mg/day. His elder brother had suffered from intermittent diffuse...

AIM The aim of this study was to report a single-centre experience of flunarizine in childhood migraine with focus on safety and efficacy. METHOD We conducted a retrospective observational audit of 72 individuals (40 male, 32 female; mean age 13y; age range 1y 6mo-17y) at a tertiary paediatric neurology unit between 1998 and 2009. Children were included if they had a diagnosis of migraine and...

Familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM) is a distinctive form of migraine with an autosomal dominant mode of inheritance. The migraine-like attacks are associated with transient hemiparesis. A locus for FHM has recently been assigned to chromosome 19 by linkage mapping. In the present study, five unrelated pedigrees with multiple members suffering from hemiplegic migraine were investigated. In two o...

Migraine aura is a sometimes disabling disorder of the brain that involves significant neurological symptoms in about 30% of patients. In this issue of Neuron, van den Maagdenberg et al. characterize a mouse with a knockin mutation known to cause familial hemiplegic migraine and provide evidence that a lowered threshold to the triggering of CSD may account for the devastating phenotype of famil...

Migraine is a common, disabling, complex brain disorder, presenting in attacks that may have up to 3 phases: a prodromal phase, the aura phase, and the headache phase. The pathogenesis of the aura and headache phases is reasonably well understood, but the mechanism by which migraine attacks are triggered is unknown. Most likely, migraineurs have a genetically determined reduced threshold for mi...

Hemiplegic migraine is a rare form of migraine with aura that involves motor aura (weakness). This type of migraine can occur as a sporadic or a familial disorder. Familial forms of hemiplegic migraine are dominantly inherited. Data from genetic studies have implicated mutations in genes that encode proteins involved in ion transportation. However, at least a quarter of the large families affec...

Familial hemiplegic migraine is a rare autosomal dominant disorder associated with stereotypic neurologic aura phenomena including hemiparesis. So far two chromosomal loci have been identified. Families linked to the chromosome 19 locus display missense mutations within the CACNL1A4 gene. Here we report on a family with familial hemiplegic migraine and cerebellar ataxia with recurrent episodes ...