| Abstract: | Abstract. Primary short-lasting headaches broadly divide themselvesinto those associated with autonomic symptoms, so calledtrigemino-autonomic cephalgias (TACs), and those with littleautonomic syndromes. The trigeminoautonomic cephalgias includecluster headache and paroxysmal hemicranias, in which head painand cranial autonomic symptoms are prominent. The most strikingfeature of cluster headache is the circadian and circannualperiodicity of the attacks. Inheritance may play a role in somefamilies. The attacks are of extreme intensity, of shortduration, occur unilaterally, and are accompanied by symptoms ofautonomic dysfunction. Medical treatment includes both acutetherapy aimed at aborting individual attacks and prophylactictherapy aimed at preventing recurrent attacks during the clusterperiod. Some types of trigemino-autonomic headaches, such asparoxysmal hemicrania and hemicrania continua have, unlikecluster headaches, a very robust response to indomethacin,leading to a consideration of indomethacin-sensitiveheadaches. |
