This prospective study was planned to investigate the etiology, clinical features and utility of neuroimaging in children with headache. A total of 95 children, 55 female (58%) and 40 male (42%), with an age range of 3.5 to 16.5 years were included in the study. Headaches were classified according to the criteria of the “International Headache Society”. Computerized tomography or magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 70 patients. The leading cause of headache was migraine with 42 patients (44.2%), followed by tension-type headache in 30 patients (31.5%), sinusitis in nine and epilepsy in five patients. Precipitating factors were present in 54%, and a positive family history in 78.5% of the patients with migraine. Neuroimaging techniques were abnormal in 17 patients, but only 10 of these abnormalities (sinus disease n=8, arachnoid cyst n=1, cervical syrinx n=1) were directly related to headache. None of these abnormalities necessitated surgical intervention. In conclusion, this study showed that the majority of headaches in children are due to benign conditions such as migraine or tension-type headache and that neuroimaging is warranted only in selected cases.

Keywords: baş ağrısı, etiyoloji, migren, çocuk, Helicobacter pylori, child, treatment, omeprazole, ranitidine