Articles

Chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, hemicrania continua and SUNCT: the fate of the three first described cases

Authors: Ottar Sjaastad

Migraine with aura: visual disturbances and interrelationship with the pain phase. Vågå study of headache epidemiology

In the Vågå study of headache epidemiology, 1838 or 88.6% of the available 18–65-year-old inhabitants of the commune were included. Everyone was questioned and examined personally by the principal investigator...

Authors: O. Sjaastad, L. S. Bakketeig and H. C. Petersen

Public health support to policies in the fields of headache. Different ways of producing data and modalities of reading them with the aid of the meta-analytic approach

Authors: M. Leonardi

The functional Val158Met variant of the COMT gene is not associated with migraine with or without aura

Authors: R. Mössner, C. M. Freitag, M. Marziniak, D. Moser, C. Sommer and J. Meyer

Influence of sumatriptan on the autonomic system during migraine attacks

Authors: G. Dalla Volta, S. Griffini and A. Pezzini

Almotriptan in the acute treatment of migraine in patients 11–17 years old: an open–label pilot study of efficacy and safety

The objective was to investigate the safety and efficacy of almotriptan in patients aged 11–17 years old with acute migraine. Fifteen patients aged 11–17 with a history of migraine with or without aura were tr...

Authors: J. A. Charles

Neurophysiological assessment of craniofacial pain

This review deals with the diagnostic usefulness of neurophysiological testing in patients with craniofacial pain.

Authors: F. Galeotti, A. Truini and G. Cruccu

Genetics of headache and catechol–O–methyltransferase gene polymorphism

Authors: Yildirim A. Bayazit

Starting Tutorials in headache medicine education

Authors: P. Martelletti

Economic impact of primary headaches

Authors: Jose F. Tellez-Zenteno

Great occipital nerve blockade for cluster headache in the emergency department: case report

A 44-year-old man with a past medical history of episodic cluster headache presented in our ED with complaints of multiple daily cluster headache attacks, with cervico-occipital spreading of pain from May to S...

Authors: L. Scattoni, F. Di Stani, V. Villani, D. Dugoni, C. Mostardini, C. Reale and R. Cerbo

The association between headache and Val158Met polymorphism in the catechol–O–methyltransferase gene: the HUNT Study

The catechol–O–methyltransferase (COMT) gene contains a functional polymorphism, Val158Met, that has been found to influence human pain perception, and one study has found that migraine was less likely among thos...

Authors: K. Hagen, E. Pettersen, L. J. Stovner, F. Skorpen and J.-A. Zwart

Première of a partnership: European Headache Federation and The Journal of Headache and Pain

Authors: P. Martelletti and M. J. A. Lainez

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Understanding clinical trials in migraine

The following points are covered in this review. (1) How a randomised clinical trial in migraine is performed. The whole process from idea to publication of an article is reviewed. (2) How to understand a pape...

Authors: P. Tfelt-Hansen

Diagnosing cervicogenic headache

The notion that disorders of the cervical spine can cause headache is more than a century old, yet there is still a great deal of debate about cervicogenic headache (CEH) in terms of its underlying mechanisms,...

Authors: F. Antonaci, G. Bono and P. Chimento

The History of the Migraine Trust

The history of a medical charity founded for the purpose of initiating research into the commonest of all human afflictions—headache. Of the 100 causes, migraine is one of the commonest, and in spite of the la...

Authors: F. C. Rose

Salivary cortisol, dehydroepiandrosteronesulphate (DHEA–S) and testosterone in women with chronic migraine

Hypothalamus–pituitaryadrenal (HPA) axis activity was monitored in 20 women with chronic migraine (CM), previously affected by medication overuse headache (MOH), in comparison to healthy women (20 subjects) by...

Authors: F. R. Patacchioli, P. Monnazzi, S. Simeoni, S. De Filippis, E. Salvatori, G. Coloprisco and P. Martelletti

Economic impact of primary headaches in Turkey: a university hospital based study: part II

This study was planned to investigate the economic impact of headache on Turkish headache sufferers attending a tertiary care outpatient headache clinic.

Authors: N. Karlı, M. Zarifoğlu, M. Ertafş, S. Saip, V. Öztürk, Ş. Bıçakçı, C. Boz, D. Selçuki, A. Oğuzhanoğlu, M. Neyal, A. Siva, C. İrkeç, H. Kaleağası, T. Kansu, Y. Sarıca, N. Taşdemir…

High prolactin levels as a worsening factor for migraine

Many factors should be considered when an episodic migraine worsens and becomes chronic. Prolactin (PRL) was linked to the origin of pain in patients with microprolactinomas who developed different types of he...

Authors: C. Cavestro, A. Rosatello, M. P. Marino, G. Micca and G. Asteggiano

Whiplash in individuals with known pre–accident, clinical neck status

In whiplash studies, there may be interpretation difficulties: are post–whiplash findings, when present, a consequence of the whiplash trauma, or did they exist prior to trauma? In the Vågå headache epidemiolo...

Authors: O. Sjaastad, T. A. Fredriksen, J. Båtnes, H. C. Petersen and L. S. Bakketeig

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension with pituitary adenoma

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is an unusual syndrome that is characterised by positional headache, neck rigidity, nausea and vomiting. The characteristic magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings ...

Authors: A. K. Firat, H. M. Karakas, Z. Y. Firat, B. Kahraman and G. Erdem

Editor–in–Chief’s 2006 Report

Authors: P. Martelletti

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A review of perinatal acute pain: treating perinatal pain to reduce adult chronic pain

Changes in neural connections and activity after an acute insult are hypothesised to contribute to chronic pain syndromes in mature experimental animals and humans. Over the last decade, studies have suggested...

Authors: D. A. Marcus

Value of postmarketing surveillance studies in achieving a complete picture of antimigraine agents: using almotriptan as an example

Randomised controlled trials cannot collect all the data relevant for use in everyday clinical practice because drug exposure is limited, endpoints are restricted and some patient populations are excluded. Pos...

Authors: J. Pascual, Hans-Christoph Diener and Hélène Massiou

Reliability of pain threshold measurement in young adults

The objective was to examine reliability of pressure and thermal (cold) pain threshold assessment in persons less than 25 years of age, using intra–class correlation (ICC) and coefficients of repeatability and...

Authors: S. Cathcart and D. Pritchard

Headache in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease: effects of chronic hypoxaemia

The frequency and characteristics of headache in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are not clear and there are only a few studies that have assessed the relationship between chronic hy...

Authors: A. Özge, C. Özge, H. Kaleagasi, O. Ö. Yalin, Ö. Ünal and E. S. Özgür

Thyroid dysfunction and headache

An observational study of thyroid function tests performed in patients with headache prior to referral to a neurological clinic found no headache cases attributable to either hypothyroidism or hyperthyroidism....

Authors: A. J. Larner

Preface

Authors: Giorgio Zanchin

A case of short–lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT). Discussion of clinical features and differential diagnosis

Chronic short–lasting headaches, in which trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) are included, are relatively rare syndromes and not always well recognised. We present a case highly suggestive of short–lasti...

Authors: M. Guidotti and M. Mauri

Posterior headache as a warning symptom of vertebral dissection: a case report

Cervicocerebral arterial dissection is an important cause of stroke in young adults; the onset is often characterised by severe occipital headache, followed by nausea, vomiting and vertigo, mimicking a migrain...

Authors: S. Lanfranchi, M. Di Falco, M. Perini and D. Zarcone

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension: case report

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension is a well defined entity, however it is characterised by a relevant clinical heterogeneity. The main feature is orthostatic headache, often accompanied by other symptoms. T...

Authors: P. Merlo, A. M. Clerici, B. Stival, V. Rebecchi, M. Noce and S. Mazza

The transient syndrome of headache with neurological deficits, cerebrospinal fluid pleocytosis and acute confusional state: a case report

The syndrome of transient Headache and Neurological Deficits with cerebrospinal fluid Lymphocytosis (HaNDL) now referred to in the IHS ICHD–II code 7.8, is only infrequently accompanied by a confusional state ...

Authors: A. Giorgetti, G. Mariani, G. M. Patruno and A. Romorini

Ehlers–Danlos syndrome: correlation with headache disorders in a young woman

Ehlers–Danlos syndrome is a rare inherited illness, which includes an autosomal dominant and also a recessive X–linked variant. Its main clinical characteristic is a generalised connective tissue involving col...

Authors: F. Di Palma and A. H. Cronin

A case of post–traumatic cervicogenic headache treated by cervical cord stimulation

The case of a 26–year–old woman suffering from cervical trauma with disc herniation presenting with arm and neck pain is presented. She underwent cervical discectomy with fusion because the pain did not improv...

Authors: A. Dario, C. Scamoni, S. Peron and G. Tomei

Relapsing–remitting painful ophthalmoplegia due to orbital myositis

We describe a woman with a long history of relapsing-remitting painful ophthalmoplegia in a seasonal pattern, due to an isolated orbital myositis that was—at our observation–classified in the context of the so...

Authors: E. Guaschino, C. Zandrini, G. Minonzio, A. Mancioli, M. Broggini and G. Bono

Tension–type headache in 40–year-olds: a Danish population–based sample of 4000

The aim of this study was to evaluate the one–year prevalence of tension–type headache in the general population. Three thousand men and one thousand women aged 40 years from the Danish population were include...

Authors: M. B. Russell

The global burden of migraine: measuring disability in headache disorders with WHO's Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF)

This overview of the published epidemiological evidence of migraine helps to identify the size of the public–health problem that migraine represents. It also highlights the need for further epidemiological stu...

Authors: M. Leonardi, T. J. Steiner, A. T. Scher and R. B. Lipton

Combination of tizanidine and amitriptyline in the prophylaxis of chronic tension–type headache: evaluation of efficacy and impact on quality of life

Chronic tension type headache (CTTH) has a strong impact on the Quality Of Life (QOL). We carried out an open–label randomized clinical trial on 18 patients with CTTH in order to compare two different regimens...

Authors: D. Bettucci, L. Testa, S. Calzoni, P. Mantegazza, M. Viana and F. Monaco

Concepts leading to the definition of the term cervicogenic headache: a historical overview

The idea that headache may originate from a problem at the neck or cervical spine level has fascinated and stimulated researchers for centuries. Contributions and reports seeking to clarify this issue have mul...

Authors: F. Antonaci, G. Bono, M. Mauri, M. Drottning and S. Buscone

The Italian Society For The Study of Headaches, Announces The International Greppi—Sicuteri Award 2006

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Clinical efficacy of rizatriptan for patients with migraine: efficacy of drug therapy for migraine accompanied by tension headache–like symptoms, focusing on neck stiffness

According to an epidemiological study in Japan, there are as many as 22 million patients with tension headache and 8.4 million with migraine. Furthermore, patients suffering from both types of headache concurr...

Authors: H. Okuma, Y. Kitagawa and S. Takagi

Topo–kinesthetic memory in chronic headaches. A new test for chronic patients: preliminary report

The objective of this study was to establish if chronic headaches with medication overuse can modify a topo–kinesthetic memory test. Nineteen patients with medication overuse headache (MOH), 13 patients with c...

Authors: L. A. Pini, G. Guidetti, D. Brovia, P. Pontremoli and P. Sarchielli

A case of spontaneous intracranial hypotension with typical magnetic resonance images

Spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH) is a rare syndrome defined by postural headache, associated with a low cerebrospinal fluid pressure, without history of previous dural trauma or invasive treatment on...

Authors: M. Trappolini, A. Clarice, A. Scorza, L. Angrisani, F. Trappolini, M. March Rocchietti and M. Proietta

SUNCT: a new case with some unusual features

A healthy 22–year–old man complained of primary stabbing headache (PSH) for about two months. The headache recurred after one year and after a month the pain took on the characteristics of short–lasting unilat...

Authors: F. Raudino

The circadian clock in mammals

The basic physiological and anatomical basis for circadian rhythms in mammalian behaviour and physiology is introduced. The pathways involved in photic entrainment of the circadian clock are discussed in relat...

Authors: M. A. Zordan and C. P. Kyriacou