5 Yr. Old Rare Migraines and Hearing Loss

[sonhaar]

Has anyone else heard of a child having these symptoms and being diagnosed with some kind of rare migraine?  If so please respond and share your stories with me.  Our 5 yr. old son began these unexplained episodes at age 13 mos. He is normal one minute then suddenly loses his balance, gets dizzy and begins vomiting.  He has nystagmus of the eyes for quite some time as well during these episodes.  He had gone 2 1/2 yrs. without an episode until this past weekend.  It was the first time he could speak so we knew exactly what he felt.  In most cases the episode comes on by a knock to his head.  This time he had been playing with our puppy and he jumped into a window seat and bumped his head on the window.  But not very hard.  CT scan at ER was normal so no concussion.  But it seems to trigger the episode.  This time the vomiting was so severe he had to be admitted to the hospital for IV's.  He also becomes very limp and completely out of it, unable to be woken up once he goes to sleep when these happen.  At least for several hours until he has "slept off" the worst of it.  When he wakes up he's typically very unstable and unbalanced for at least a few hours to a day or more.  In addition, he has permanent hearing loss in both ears.  The question is whether the headaches are causing the hearing loss or not?  So far after this last episode there is no further hearing loss.  It's currently moderate/severe but he can hear at nearly 100% WITH hearing aids.  Also, he said he did not have any pain with the symptoms, just dizziness and vomiting.  If this story sounds familiar to anyone PLEASE let me know.  We are still looking for answers and treatment.  Doctors are telling us there is no "preventative" for this type of migraine, but only anti-nausea meds and IV's for treatment once symptoms begin.  Thank you!

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Yes I think these symptoms could be due to CVS. CVS usually occurs in children between 3-7 years of age. In most of the cases a trigger can be identified. It can be an infection, another cause in children is emotional stress or excitement, colds, allergies and flu.
It is hard to diagnose as there are no diagnostic tests available. The diagnosis is mainly by medical history and examination.
The relationship between migraine and CVS is still unclear.
http://digestive.niddk.nih.gov/ddiseases/pubs/cvs/index.htm
Hope this helps!

[sonhaar]

Thank you for the information.  We do have an ENT and an MRI was done of his inner ear when he was 3 (just after the ABR that showed the sensorineural hearing loss).  The MRI showed slight enlargement of the endolymphatic sacs in both ears but normal sized vestibular aquaducts.  Our ENT's belief is that Nathan does suffer from enlargement of the vestibular adquaducts however, he said that when Nathan has these episodes it would mean further hearing loss and in this particular episode last week there was no addt'l loss of hearing.  So he is of the opinion that the neurologist's theory of CVS is probably the more accurate diagnosis.  
Do you believe that his syptoms are typical (minus the hearing loss) of CVS?  Thank you!

[DrNoopurMD]

Hi,

Migraine headaches cause temporary hearing loss. Migraine cannot cause a permanent hearing loss. Please go through the following link it gives information on the causes of hearing loss in children.
http://hcd2.bupa.co.uk/fact_sheets/Mosby_factsheets/Hearing_Loss.html#2
I would suggest you to please consult an ENT specialist.