The Complex Relationship Between Epilepsy and Headache and the Concept of Ictal Epileptic Headache

摘要: Since William Richard Gowers’ time, for over a hundred years, it has been discussing the possible link/comorbidity (causal or not causal) between epilepsy and headaches. During latest decades, new data have emerged in favor of non-random relationship these two entities. They are both characterized by transient attacks altered brain function with clinical, pathophysiological, common genetic factors therapeutic overlap, thus, they may also mimic each other. In fact, clinical distinction headache can be so difficult to make differential diagnosis sometimes highly problematic. Both common, often co-morbid and, this latter case, temporally related occurrence epileptic seizures as pre-ictal, ictal, post-ictal inter-ictal phenomenon. Yet, paroxysmal chronic neurological disorders that share many epidemiological aspects, may, both, present visual, cognitive, sensitive-sensorial motor signs/symptoms; neurophysiologic phenomenon arise from cerebral cortex modulated sub-cortical connections.