Alice-in-Wonderland Syndrome in Patients with Migraine
J. E. Azimova *
University Headache Clinic, Moscow, Russia and Russian Scientific Center of Medical Rehabilitation and Balneology, Moscow, Russia.
A. V. Sergeev
University Headache Clinic, Moscow, Russia and Department of Neurology, Research Center of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
K. V. Skorobogatykh
University Headache Clinic, Moscow, Russia.
E. A. Klimov
Department of Genetics, Faculty of Biology, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia
G. R. Tabeeva
University Headache Clinic, Moscow, Russia and Department of Neurology, Research Center of the I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, Moscow, Russia
A. P. Rachin
University Headache Clinic, Moscow, Russia and Russian Scientific Center of Medical Rehabilitation and Balneology, Moscow, Russia.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Aims: Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome (AIWS) is a rare neuropsychological syndrome that includes paroxysmal distortion of the body schema, depersonalization, derealization, visual hallucinations, distorted sense of time, and deja vu and jamais vu experiences. Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome may be an equivalent of a migraine attack. The objective of this study was to evaluate the clinical particulars of Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome in patients suffering from migraine.
Place and Duration of Study: University Headache Clinic between June 2012 and November 2015.
Methodology: The study sample involved 14 subjects with migraine as defined in the ICHD-III-beta and AIWS (1 male and 13 females) with a mean age of 22.9±12.1 years. 13 patients had migraine with aura, and one subject had migraine without aura. All study subjects were somatically and psychiatric healthy. A specially designed and validated questionnaire was being used to assess symptoms in patients with AIWS.
Results: Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome was characteristically being developed in children and adolescents as part of a migraine aura, combined with a typical impairment of visual perception, or between attacks, and also had episodes of visual hallucinations. Older patients were characterized by only interictal, short (lasting a few seconds) phenomena, which was most commonly teleopsia.
Conclusion: The reported study indicates that Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome is a heterogeneous condition varying with different age subgroups among patients with migraine.
Keywords: Alice-in-Wonderland syndrome, migraine