Background: Ictal epileptic headache (IEH) is caused by a focal epileptic seizure.The diagnosis can be challenging when the headache is isolated without any other symptoms.Case Report: A 16-year-old girl presented with a 5-year history of bilateral frontotemporal headaches with severe intensity lasting for 1-3 min. Past medical, physical, and developmental histories were unremarkable. Head magnetic resonance imaging showed right hippocampal sclerosis. The diagnosis of pure IEH was confirmed by video-electroencephalographic monitoring. The onset and cessation of frontal headache correlated with a right temporal discharge. The patient was diagnosed with right mesial temporal lobe epilepsy. Two years later, her seizures increased despite antiseizure medications. A right anterior temporal lobectomy was performed. The patient remained seizure-free and headache-free for 10 years.
Conclusion:IEH should be considered in the differential diagnosis of brief and isolated headache, even if the headache is diffuse or contralateral to the epileptogenic focus.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.