A case of early-onset and monophasic trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia: could it be a SUNCT?

Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias and Neuralgias in Children and Adolescents: a Narrative Review

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

To summarize the available literature as well as the authors' experience on trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs) and cranial neuralgias in children and adolescents.

RECENT FINDINGS

While TACs and cranial neuralgias are rare in children, several recent case series have been published. TACs in children share most of the clinical features of TACs in adults. However, there are many reported cases with clinical features which overlap more than one diagnosis, suggesting that TACs may be less differentiated in youth. Indomethacin-responsive cases of cluster headache and SUNCT/SUNA have been reported in children, whereas in adults indomethacin is usually reserved for paroxysmal hemicrania and hemicrania continua. Neuralgias appear to be rare in children. Clinical features are often similar to adult cases, though clinicians should maintain a high index of suspicion for underlying causes.

SUNCT/SUNA in Pediatric Age: A Review of Pathophysiology and Therapeutic Options

The International Classification of Headache Disorders, 3rd edition (ICHD3) defines Short-lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform Headache Attacks (SUNHA) as attacks of moderate or severe, strictly unilateral head pain lasting from seconds to minutes, occurring at least once a day and usually associated with prominent lacrimation and redness of the ipsilateral eye. Two subtypes of SUNHA are identified: Short-lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform headache attacks with Conjunctival injection and Tearing (SUNCT) and Short-lasting Unilateral Neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial Autonomic symptoms (SUNA). These pathologies are infrequent in children and difficult to diagnose. The authors reviewed the existing literature on SUNCT and SUNA, especially in the developmental age, which describes the pathophysiology in detail and focuses on the therapeutic options available to date. SUNHA-type headaches must be considered on the one hand, for the possibility of the onset of forms secondary to underlying pathologies even of a neoplastic nature, and on the other hand, for the negative impact they can have on an individual’s quality of life, particularly in young patients. Until now, published cases suggest that no chronic variants occur in childhood and adolescents. In light of this evidence, the authors offer a review that may serve as a source to be drawn upon in the implementation of suitable treatments in children and adolescents suffering from these headaches, focusing on therapies that are non-invasive and as risk-free as possible for pediatric patients.

Pediatric-onset trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias: A systematic review and meta-analysis

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

There are five headache disorders composing the trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (cluster headache, paroxysmal hemicrania, short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT), short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with cranial autonomic symptoms (SUNA), and hemicrania continua). Little is known about these disorders in the pediatric population. The objectives of this study are to report the full age ranges of pediatric trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias and to determine if pediatric-onset trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias display similar signs and symptoms as adult onset.

METHODS

Search criteria in Medline Ovid, Embase, PsycINFO, and Cochrane Library were created by a librarian. The remainder of the steps were independently performed by two neurologists using PRISMA guidelines. Inclusion criteria for titles and abstracts were articles discussing cases of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias with age of onset 18 or younger, as well as any epidemiological report on trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (as age of onset data was often found in the results section but not in the title or abstract). Data extracted included age of onset, sex, and International Classification of Headache Disorders criteria for trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (including pain location, duration, frequency, autonomic features, restlessness) and some migraine criteria (photophobia, phonophobia, and nausea). Studies that did not meet full criteria for trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias were examined separately as "atypical trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias"; secondary headaches were excluded from this category.

RESULTS

In all, 1788 studies were searched, 86 met inclusion criteria, and most (56) examined cluster headache. In cluster headache, onset occurred at every pediatric age (range 1-18 years) with a full range of associated features. Autonomic and restlessness features were less common in pediatric patients, while migrainous features (nausea, photophobia, and phonophobia) were found at similar rates. The sex ratio of pediatric-onset cluster headache (1.8, 79 male and 43 female) may be lower than that of adult-onset cluster headache. Data for other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, while more limited, displayed most of the full range of official criteria. The data for atypical trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias were also limited, but the most common deviations from the official criteria were abnormal frequencies and locations of attacks.

CONCLUSIONS

Trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias can start early in life and have similar features to adult-onset trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. Specifically, pediatric-onset cluster headache patients display the full range of each criterion for cluster headache (except maximum frequency of six instead of eight attacks per day). However, cranial autonomic features and restlessness occur at a lower rate in pediatrics. Additional information is needed for the other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias. As for expanding the ICHD-3 criteria for pediatric-onset trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, we have only preliminary data from atypical cases, which suggests that the frequency and location of attacks sometimes extend beyond the official criteria.Trial Registration: This study was registered as a systematic review in PROSPERO (registration number CRD42020165256).

Very young age of onset in trigemino-autonomic cephalalgias - case report and review of the literature

BACKGROUND

Trigemino-autonomic cephalalgias are very rare disorders and even rarer in children and adolescents. We report the onset of paroxysmal hemicrania in a very young girl and reviewed the scientific literature for similar cases.

FINDINGS

We describe the case of a 1.6-year-old girl with left-sided headache attacks fulfilling the criteria of paroxysmal hemicrania including prompt responsiveness to indomethacin. In addition, we detected at least two children for every trigemino-autonomic cephalalgias subtype with an age of under 7 years at the onset of the trigemino-autonomic cephalalgias. Remarkable features were a vast majority of chronic course from onset on and left-sided attacks.

CONCLUSION

Although very rare, trigemino-autonomic cephalalgias can occur even in very young children under the age of 6 years. This should be known in neuropaediatrics.