Hemicrania Continua

Hemicrania continua (HC) is an indomethacin responsive primary chronic headache disorder which is currently classified as a subtype of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs). It is not very uncommon. There are >1000 cases of HC in the literature, and it constitutes 1.7% of total headache in the clinic settings. Misdiagnosis for HC is very common at all clinical settings. A diagnosis of HC is missed even by neurologists and headache specialists. It is characterized by a continuous strictly unilateral headache with superimposed exacerbations. Just like other TACs, exacerbations are associated with cranial autonomic symptoms and restlessness. A large number of patients may have migrainous features (nausea, vomiting, photophobia, and phonophobia) during exacerbations phase. The “key” feature of HC is persistent featureless background headaches. However, patients and physicians may focus only on the exacerbation part. As durations, frequency and associated symptoms of exacerbations are highly variables; it may mimic a large number of primary and secondary headache disorders. Migraine and cluster headache are two most common misdiagnosed conditions. Another specific feature of HC is remarkable repose to indomethacin. A “complete” response to indomethacin is as “sine qua non” for HC. However, a few other medications may also be effective in a subset of HC patients. Various surgical procedures have been tried with mixed results in patients who were intolerant to indomethacin or other drugs.

Therapeutical approaches to paroxysmal hemicrania, hemicrania continua and short lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks: a critical appraisal

Background

Hemicrania continua (HC), paroxysmal hemicrania (PH) and short lasting neuralgiform headache attacks (SUNCT and SUNA) are rare syndromes with a difficult therapeutic approach. The aim of this review is to summarize all articles dealing with treatments for HC, PH, SUNCT and SUNA, comparing them in terms of effectiveness and safety.

Methods

A survey was performed using the pubmed database for documents published from the 1st January 1989 onwards. All types of articles were considered, those ones dealing with symptomatic cases and non-English written ones were excluded.

Results

Indomethacin is the best treatment both for HC and PH. For the acute treatment of HC, piroxicam and celecoxib have shown good results, whilst for the prolonged treatment celecoxib, topiramate and gabapentin are good options besides indomethacin. For PH the best drug besides indomethacin is piroxicam, both for acute and prolonged treatment. For SUNCT and SUNA the most effective treatments are intravenous or subcutaneous lidocaine for the acute treatment of active phases and lamotrigine for the their prevention. Other effective therapeutic options are intravenous steroids for acute treatment and topiramate for prolonged treatment. Non-pharmacological techniques have shown good results in SUNCT and SUNA but, since they have been tried on a small number of patients, the reliability of their efficacy is poor and their safety profile mostly unknown.

Conclusions

Besides a great number of treatments tried, HC, PH, SUNCT and SUNA management remains difficult, according with their unknown pathogenesis and their rarity, which strongly limits the studies upon these conditions. Further studies are needed to better define the treatment of choice for these conditions.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s10194-017-0777-3) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

LASH: A Review of the Current Literature

PURPOSE OF REVIEW

The purpose of this review is to evaluate and explain our current understanding of a very rare disorder, long-lasting autonomic symptoms with associated hemicranias (LASH).

RECENT FINDINGS

At present, there are four known cases in the literature of LASH. Its characteristics and reported response to indomethacin link it most closely to the trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs). Its pathophysiology and epidemiology remain unclear. Variance in the pain and autonomic symptom relationship in the existing TAC literature along with the reports of TAC sine headache suggests that LASH may represent a far end of the spectrum of TACs, with most similarities to paroxysmal hemicrania (PH) and hemicrania continua (HC).

Hemicrania continua: clinical review, diagnosis and management

Hemicrania continua (HC) is an indomethacin-responsive primary headache disorder which is currently classified under the heading of trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs). It is a highly misdiagnosed and underreported primary headache. The pooled mean delay of diagnosis of HC is 8.0 ± 7.2 years. It is not rare. We noted more than 1000 cases in the literature. It represents 1.7% of total headache patients attending headache or neurology clinic. Just like other TACs, it is characterized by strictly unilateral pain in the trigeminal distribution, cranial autonomic features in the same area and agitation during exacerbations/attacks. It is different from other TACs in one aspect. While all other TACs are episodic, HC patients have continuous headaches with superimposed severe exacerbations. The central feature of HC is continuous background headache. However, the patients may be worried only for superimposed exacerbations. Focusing only on exacerbations and ignoring continuous background headache are the most important factors for the misdiagnosis of HC. A large number of patients may have migrainous features during exacerbation phase. Up to 70% patients may fulfill the diagnostic criteria for migraine during exacerbations. Besides migraine, its exacerbations can mimic a large number of other primary and secondary headaches. The other specific feature of HC is a remarkable response to indomethacin. However, a large number of patients develop side effects because of the long-term use of indomethacin. A few other medications may also be effective in a subset of patients with HC. Various surgical interventions have been suggested for patients who are intolerant to indomethacin. Several aspects of HC are still not defined. There is a great heterogeneity in types of patients or articles on the HC in the literature. Diagnostic criteria have been modified several times over the years. The current diagnostic criteria are too restrictive in some aspects. We suggest a more accommodating type of criteria for the appendix of International Classification of Headache Disorder (ICHD).

Coexistence of contralateral cluster headache and probable paroxysmal hemicrania: a case report

Introduction

The trigeminal autonomic cephalagias (TACs) are short-lasting unilateral headaches associated with autonomic features. Even if coexistence of different ipsilateral TACs in the same patient has been previously reported in few papers, the simultaneous occurrence of contralateral TACs is not described previously.

Case description

A 50 years old working man complained, at the end of his cluster period, a new TAC, fitting the criteria for probable paroxysmal hemicrania. The dramatic improvement of this last cephalalgia with indomethacin treatment confirmed the diagnosis.

Discussion, evaluation and conclusion

There is a clear overlap in clinical diagnosis between cluster headache (CH) and paroxysmal hemicrania (PH) and similarities are somewhat greater than differences. The originality of this report is the coexistence of contralateral TACs in the same patients at the same moment. According neuroimaging studies, CH hypothalamic activation occurs ipsilateral to the side of the headache while in PH hypothalamic activation occurs contralateral to the side of headache. It could be suggested that a continuous hypothalamic activation give a maladaptive plasticity recruiting closed neuronal aggregates responsible for the developing of PH after a long period of CH, confirming the central origin of both CH and PH. Further studies need to confirm this hypothesis.

Indomethacin Responsive Headaches: Exhaustive Systematic Review with Pooled Analysis and Critical Appraisal of 81 Published Clinical Studies

OBJECTIVES

The relationship between indomethacin (IMC) and headache treatment has long intrigued clinicians and clinical researchers in Headache Medicine. Why is it efficacious in many types of headache disorders when other medications are not, and what is the mechanism behind its efficacy? IMC and headache related topics that have been explored in detail in the literature include IMC-responsive headache disorders ("traditional"), pharmacology of IMC, symptomatic headaches responsive to IMC, "novel" headache conditions that respond, cluster headache and IMC, IMC provoking headache, the issue about" absolute" and "non-absolute" effect of IMC on headache disorders, and the morphing trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias (TACs).

DATA SOURCE

A PubMed/MEDLINE search was used for Clinical Studies Categories and Systematic Reviews on the PubMed Clinical Queries. The search details were "indomethacin" AND "headache" spanning all previous years until February 1, 2015. Methods were in accordance with Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

REVIEW METHODS

Articles were excluded if IMC had not been used to treat headache disorders in adults, if the article concerned IMC-responsive headaches but made no reference to the use of IMC, and articles not addressing the above mentioned topics.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS

The "velocity" of publications on IMC and headache seems to be decreasing, particularly on the use of IMC for the treatment of TACs. The science behind the understanding of the putative mechanisms of IMC's action on headache has moved forward, but the answer to why it works better than other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs has been elusive. There are case reports of other rare headache disorders that may be responsive to IMC. The dosages of IMC used as a tool for detecting IMC responsive disorders vary according to different centers of investigation. In many circumstances, headache disorders similar to "primary" IMC-responsive disorders are actually symptomatic disorders. Cluster headache as an IMC-resistant headache disorder may not be as absolute as once thought. Sometimes, IMC has been found to provoke headache; differentiating IMC-provoked headache from IMC-resistant headache can make headache diagnosis and management difficult. As for the "absolute" responsiveness of IMC, it is possible that using higher dosages leads to higher sensitivity, probably at the expense of decreased specificity. There are many reports about the occurrence of two or more IMC-responsive disorders (latu sensu) in the same patient, which may be coincidental.

Hemicrania continua with contralateral cranial autonomic features: a case report

BACKGROUND

Hemicrania continua is characterized by continuous strictly unilateral head pain with episodic exacerbations. Episodic exacerbations are associated with ipsilateral cranial autonomic features.

CASE DESCRIPTION

We report a 24-year female with a 2-year history of continuous right-sided headache with superimposed exacerbations. Episodic exacerbations were associated with marked agitation and contralateral cranial autonomic features. The patient showed a complete response to indomethacin within 8 hours.

DISCUSSION

The dichotomy of pain and autonomic features is in accordance with the concept about the possibility of two separate pathways for pain and autonomic features in trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias.

Exacerbation of SUNCT and SUNA syndromes during intravenous dihydroergotamine treatment: A case series

BACKGROUND

The management of short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT) and with short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with autonomic symptoms (SUNA) remains challenging in view of the limited understanding of their pathophysiological mechanisms.

METHODS

An initial observation that patients with both chronic migraine (CM) or cluster headache (CH) and SUNCT/SUNA receiving intravenous dihydroergotamine (IV DHE) had complained of dramatic worsening of the latter led to review of the case notes of patients with CM or CH and co-existent SUNCT/SUNA seen between 2008 and 2013 and who had a trial of IV DHE.

RESULTS

Twenty-four patients were identified. IV DHE was ineffective for SUNCT/SUNA in 16 patients, while one patient reported a marginal improvement. Five patients reported dramatic worsening of the SUNCT/SUNA. Moreover, two patients developed new-onset SUNA during their first IV DHE infusion. Out of these seven patients, those requiring repeated courses of IV DHE consistently experienced exacerbations of SUNCT/SUNA which were suppressed with IV lidocaine.

CONCLUSIONS

DHE is an ineffective treatment option for SUNCT and SUNA. Physicians who intend to offer IV DHE to CH or CM patients should warn them that IV DHE could exacerbate and possibly even lead to a de novo onset of SUNCT/SUNA. In view of the reported worsening or new onset of SUNCT/SUNA in patients using dopamine agonists for the treatment of pituitary prolactinomas, we speculate that DHE might worsen or induce SUNCT and SUNA, at least in a sub-group of patients, through a perturbation in the dopaminergic system.

A case of post-traumatic LASH syndrome responsive to indomethacin and melatonin (a man with a unique triad of indomethacin-responsive trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias)

Objective

The objective of this article is to present the first post-traumatic/secondary case of LASH syndrome and the first melatonin-responsive case of LASH.

Methods

We present a case report.

Results

A 44-year-old man developed three distinct headache syndromes in progression over a 2.5-year time period after a motor vehicle accident. He initially had paroxysmal hemicrania, which he experienced for 15 months, then transitioned to hemicrania continua for 3.5 months, then LASH syndrome, which he endured until he was treated with indomethacin and became pain free. Then after an inability to taper off indomethacin he was placed on melatonin and achieved a pain-free state.

Conclusion

This is the first post-traumatic/secondary case of LASH syndrome, the first male patient to be documented with LASH, and the first LASH case to show complete alleviation with melatonin. This patient’s unique case history provides another example of how multiple trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias can occur in a single individual. This may be one of the first cases of three distinct trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias developing after trauma.