VALENCIA, SPAIN – Infantile colic appears to be a potent predictor of subsequent adolescent migraine without aura, according to a large, prospective, population-based Finnish study.
This is the latest of several studies to document a relationship between infantile colic and later migraine. It’s particularly persuasive by virtue of its 18 years of prospective follow-up, Dr. Kenneth J. Mack commented at the International Headache Congress.
Bruce Jancin/Frontline Medical News
Dr. Kenneth J. Mack
Indeed, he hailed the Finnish study (Cephalalgia. 2015 Mar 9. pii: 0333102415576225.) led by investigators at the University of Turku as one of the top developments in the field of pediatric headache within the past year.
The Finnish investigators followed 1,267 infants, all the first-born in their families, and 13% of whom were diagnosed with colic by age 3 months. Of the 787 subjects captured at follow-up at age 18 years, 129 had been diagnosed with migraine, and 96 of the 787 had a history of infantile colic.
Migraine was present in 23% of the 18-year-olds with a history of infantile colic but in only 11% of those without such a history, noted Dr. Mack, professor of neurology and pediatrics at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
Fourteen of 22 adolescent migraineurs with a history of infantile colic had migraine without aura. The remaining eight had migraine with aura. Thus, infantile colic was associated with a highly significant 2.8-fold increased risk for adolescent migraine without aura but no increased risk for developing migraine with aura, Dr. Mack continued at the meeting sponsored by the International Headache Society and the American Headache Society.
This study solidifies the link between infantile colic and subsequent migraine, but Dr. Mack said he has long suspected the existence of such an association based upon personal experience: “In my own family, two out of three colicky boys developed migraine.”
As the Finnish investigators noted, their study leaves unanswered the question of whether infantile colic is through some as-yet unknown mechanism a risk factor for the subsequent development of migraine or, alternatively, infantile colic might actually be an expression of infantile migraine.
The study was sponsored by the University of Turku, Finland. Dr. Mack reported having no financial conflicts regarding the Finnish study.