[Antiepileptic drugs in pediatric migraine].

According to the criteria of the International Headache Society, migraine occurs in approximately 5 to 10% of children. As many as 30% of young patients with migraine experience such frequent and disabling attacks, or have unsatisfactory results and/or experience adverse effects with pharmacologic treatment of acute migraine attack, that daily preventive medications are required. Many studies have investigated the use of antiepileptic drugs in this indication but there is a paucity of placebo-controlled studies. So far, in the setting of migraine with and without aura, only flunarizine and topiramate have proved their efficacy in more than one placebo-controlled study. Uncontrolled studies suggest the possible efficacy of valproic acid, gabapentin, levetiracetam, zonisamide, and magnesium in preventive therapy of childhood periodic syndromes. Most of antiepileptic drugs used in pediatric preventive therapy are well tolerated. The most common adverse events are asthenia and somnolence.