Instrumental investigations in primary headache. An updated review and new perspectives

While some instrumental techniques are clearly useful for differentiating symptomatic forms from primary headache, the usefulness of certain other techniques, neurophysiological investigations in particular, in clinical practice is still debated. A Task Force of the European Federation of Neurological Societies has recently proposed guidelines and recommendations on the use of neurophysiological tests and neuroimaging procedures in non-acute headache. This article reviews many of the most important literature references relevant to this topic and looks at the prospects for future research.     

Update on diagnosis and differential diagnosis of vestibular migraine

Neurological Sciences - Vestibular migraine (VM) is considered the most common cause of spontaneous episodic vertigo and the second most common cause of vertigo. However, without a biomarker or a...     

Chronic migraine: diagnosis and management strategy

The case presented underscores the complexities encountered in diagnosing and managing patients with a long-standing history of headache and some of the difficulties in classifying patients according to the new International Headache Society (IHS) criteria. A 42-year-old nurse with 4 children whose headaches began at age 24 years developed continuous headaches of varying intensity, regularly so debilitating that she was unable to get out of bed and occasionally so disabling that she required an injection of meperidine from her physician. Management strategies are presented and the revised IHS criteria are discussed.     

Sporadic and familial hemiplegic migraine: diagnosis and treatment

Hemiplegic migraine is a rare subtype of migraine with aura associated with transient hemiplegia. The weakness is caused by motor aura. Hemiplegic migraine is the only headache syndrome associated with known genetic mutations and serves as a model for understanding more common varieties of migraine. Because the phenotype includes striking yet transient neurological signs and symptoms, it is imperative that clinicians know the differential diagnosis to rule out possible secondary etiologies when treating patients with hemiplegic spells. Hemiplegic migraine occurs with equal prevalence in either a sporadic or familial form differentiated only by family history. Thus far, treatment trials are anecdotal, although verapamil and acetazolamide have shown promise.     

Genetic diagnosis and acetazolamide treatment of familial hemiplegic migraine

A female patient presented with horizontal gaze nystagmus, mild cerebellar ataxia, recurrent headache and hemiplegia since childhood with cerebellar atrophy on magnetic resonance imaging. Genetic analysis revealed a CACNA1A gene mutation, leading to a diagnosis of familial hemiplegic migraine (FHM1). FHM is very rare, but should be considered as a differential diagnosis for childhood cerebellar symptoms and/or cerebellar atrophy. To avoid missing FHM1, a detailed clinical history including headache or hemiplegia is essential. Oral acetazolamide during the aura phase, comprising mild headache and abnormal leg sensation, relieved these symptoms in this patient, suggesting that acetazolamide could represent a first line of treatment.     

The role of instrumental examinations in delayed migraine diagnosis

We report a sporadic case of paroxysmal dyskinesia of predominantly choreic and ballistic movements of 10 years duration in a 22-year-old male. The movement starts after exercise for certain period. However, for the next 5–15 min, the movements are triggered by sudden voluntary activity. These dyskinesias persist for about 10–30 s after sudden voluntary activity. Patient has to be immobile once symptoms start after the exercise to prevent the kinesigenic involuntary movements. Involuntary movements could be induced in the lower limbs, upper limbs, facial and jaw muscle by local exercise. Overtime symptoms occurred with minimal exercise. Secondary dyskinesia was ruled out by investigations. Patient responded well to Carbamazpine, relapsed when stopped taking it.     

The real usefulness and indication for migraine diagnosis of neurophysiologic evaluation

According to IHS criteria, a correct clinical history is fully adequate for a diagnosis of migraine. Patients usually perform many useless instrumental and laboratoristic exams and specialistic evaluations. In particular, electroencephalogram (EEG) is often prescribed as a first-line study in migraine patients. The objective is to analyze the indications of EEG in migraine and to evaluate whether its performance may negatively influence the time necessary to obtain a correct diagnosis. In particular, we compared the effects of EEG performance with those related to neuroradiological examinations in terms of time necessary to obtain a migraine diagnosis. 400 consecutive patients affected by migraine without aura were enrolled. Demographic and clinical data were collected. We used an ordinal regression model considering diagnostic delay as the main outcome and EEG and radiological examinations (in particular brain CT) as predictors. Delay was defined as a time to diagnosis greater than 1-year. Age, sex, number of specialists and examinations were included in the model as covariates. EEG represented the most often performed non-radiologic examination in our sample (20 %). It was associated with a significant risk of diagnostic delay [OR 1.66 (95 % CI 1.65-1.66, p < 0.001)]. An appropriate workup, including CT scan and early referral to a headache center was the most time-saving approach, being associated to the lowest probability of diagnostic delay [OR 0.72 (95 % CI 0.63-0.82, p < 0.001)]. EEG is a frequently prescribed exam in migraine. Our data show that it can contribute to diagnostic delay, highlighting only uncertain and unspecific elements. These data confirm the usefulness of a wide application of IHS guidelines, not recommending this exam for migraine detection.     

Complicated migraine and migraine variants

Complicated migraine and migraine variants are relatively uncommon forms of migraine. This article reviews migraines, with special emphasis on diagnosis, differential diagnoses, and treatment.     

经颅多普勒超声检测对儿童偏头痛诊断价值分析

目的 探讨经颅多普勒超声无创诊断儿童偏头痛的临床应用价值.方法 对104例偏头痛患儿头痛发作期和发作间期进行经颅多普勒超声(TCD)检测,观察颅内主要大动脉如大脑前动脉(ACA)、大脑中动脉(MCA)、大脑后动脉(PCA)、椎-基底动脉(VBA)的平均血流速度,并与60名正常健康儿童的TCD进行比较.结果 偏头痛发作期脑血流速度变化多样,表现为双侧或单侧颅内主要大动脉血流速度加快、血流速度减慢、血流速度不对称.间歇期TCD多表现为不同程度的血流速度增快.检出异常率为92.3%.结论 不论处于发作期或间歇期,TCD均可检测到脑血流动力学改变,由此可判断脑血管功能状态,为偏头痛临床诊断提供了客观依据,并有助于偏头痛药物的选择.     

经颅多普勒超声和脑电图对儿童偏头痛的诊断价值

目的 探讨经颅多普勒超声(TCD)和脑电图(EEG)对儿童偏头痛的诊断价值.方法 对278例儿童偏头痛在发作期进行TCD和EEG检测,并进行对比分析.结果 TCD显示有脑血流动力学异常者242例(87%).EEG检查有NFDCC样放电11例(4%),非特异性改变108例(39%).结论 偏头痛儿童在发作期联合应用TCD和EEG检测相结合对儿童偏头痛的诊断和选择用药具有重大价值.     

Lamotrigine reduces migraine aura and migraine attacks in patients with migraine with aura

This study examined the efficacy of lamotrigine in the prevention of migraine aura. Fifty nine patients suffering from migraine with aura received lamotrigine in a controlled three year prospective open study. Treatment response was defined as a reduction of aura frequency each month by at least 50%. Primary endpoint was reached by three quarters of the patients. Lamotrigine significantly reduced both frequency of migraine aura (mean, 1.5 (SD, 0.6) each month before v 0.4 (0.7) after treatment; p < 0.001) and aura duration (mean, 27 (SD, 11) minutes before v 8 (14) after treatment; p < 0.001). Furthermore, more than three quarters of those patients with a reduction of aura symptoms experienced a significant reduction of frequency of migraine attacks (mean, 2.1 (SD, 1.0) each month before v 1.2 (1.1) after treatment; p < 0.001). Lamotrigine was highly effective in reducing migraine aura and migraine attacks. The strong correlation between reduction of aura symptoms and migraine attacks stresses the potential role of aura-like events and possibly cortical spreading depression as a trigger for trigeminal vascular activation, and subsequently the development of migraine headaches.     

Epidemiology of vertigo,migraine and vestibular migraine

Both migraine and vertigo are common in the general population with lifetime prevalences of about 16 % for migraine and 7 % for vertigo. Therefore, a concurrence of the two conditions can be expected in about 1.1 % of the general population by chance alone. However, recent epidemiological evidence suggests that the actual comorbidity is higher, namely 3.2 %. This can be explained by the fact that several dizziness and vertigo syndromes occur more frequently in migraineurs than in controls including benign paroxysmal positional vertigo, Meniere’s disease, motion sickness, cerebellar disorders and anxiety syndromes which may present with dizziness. In addition, there is increasing recognition of a syndrome called vestibular migraine (VM), which is vertigo directly caused by migraine. VM affects more than 1 % of the general population, about 10 % of patients in dizziness clinics and at least 9 % of patients in migraine clinics. Clinically, VM presents with attacks of spontaneous or positional vertigo lasting seconds to days. Migrainous accompaniments such as headache, phonophobia, photophobia or auras are common but not mandatory. Cochlear symptoms may be associated but are mostly mild and non-progressive. During acute attacks one may find central spontaneous or positional nystagmus and, less commonly, unilateral vestibular hypofunction. In the symptom-free interval, vestibular testing adds little to the diagnosis as findings are mostly minor and non-specific. In the absence of controlled studies, treatment of VM is adopted from the migraine sphere comprising avoidance of triggers, stress management as well as pharmacotherapy for acute attacks and prophylaxis.     

Characteristic differences between vestibular migraine and migraine only patients

Journal of Neurology - Vestibular migraine (VM) is one of the most common causes of vertigo in clinical practice but it is not always easy to make the correct diagnosis. Our aims were to find out...