Differential diagnosis of visual aura in migraine and epilepsy
The objective of this work is comparative clinical analysis of the visual aura in patients with migraine with aura and symptomatic occipital epilepsy which is based on our own data and literature review. Design and methods. We have analyzed the published data and have given the results of our study. The study is based on clinical observation of 2 groups of patients: 99 patients with migraine and 155 patients with epilepsy. We have used clinical-neurological method and interviewing. Results. It was detected the frequency of migraine with aura -17% and occipital epilepsy -3.2%. The characteristics of the visual aura in migraine and epilepsy were showed. Conclusion. Sometimes differential diagnosis of occipital epilepsy from migraine with aura can be difficult, especially when there is no tonic or clonic motor manifestations. However, visual aura of migraine is different from aura in occipital epilepsy by visual images, dynamics and distribution of visual phenomena in the field of view, the duration of the aura and the time of occurrence of the subsequent headache.