Plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide in diagnosing and predicting paediatric migraine

• Published in: Cephalalgia Vol. 29; no. 8; p. 883
• Main Authors: Fan, P-C, Kuo, P-H, Chang, S-H, Lee, W-T, Wu, R-M, Chiou, L-C
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 01-08-2009
• Subjects: Adolescent; Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide - blood; Child; Child, Preschool; Female; Humans; Male; Migraine Disorders - blood; Migraine Disorders - diagnosis; Pediatrics - methods; Reproducibility of Results; Sensitivity and Specificity; Young Adult
• ISSN: 1468-2982
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2008.01816.x

To investigate the role of plasma calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) in paediatric migraine, we prospectively collected 134 blood samples during or between attacks from 66 migraine, 33 non-migraine headache (non-migraine) and 22 non-headache patients, aged 4-18 years. Plasma CGRP concentrations were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay and disability by Pediatric MIgraine Disability ASsessment (PedMIDAS) questionnaire. Migraineurs had higher plasma CGRP levels than non-migraine patients (P = 0.007). The attack level was higher than the non-attack level in migraine (P = 0.036), but not in non-migraine, patients. This was also revealed in paired comparison (n = 9, P = 0.015 vs. n = 4, P = 0.47). Using a threshold of 55.1 pg/ml, the sensitivity of the attack level in predicting migraine was 0.81, and specificity 0.75. The PedMIDAS score tended to be higher in the high CGRP (> 200 pg/ml, n = 7) group than in the low (< 200 pg/ml, n = 33) group (26.07 vs. 19.32, P = 0.16) using Mann-Whitney test. Plasma CGRP is useful for diagnosis in paediatric migraine.