Treatment of hemicrania continua: case series and literature review
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Hemicrania Continua (HC) is a primary, disabling headache characterized by a continuous unilateral pain and responsive to indomethacin. There are symptoms common to the trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias and migraine that complicate the diagnosis. This review aims to describe HC in a case series and review the best available evidence on alternative therapies.
METHOD: A systematic review of medical records and diaries of pain of 1,600 patients treated between January 1992 and January 2011 in a headache outpatient clinic.
RESULTS: Ten patients with a possible diagnosis of hemicrania continua were selected; seven were diagnosed with HC according to the II International Classification of Headache Disorders. None of the patients had received the correct diagnosis before being treated at the outpatient clinic and the average time for treatment was 12 years. Prophylactic treatment was effective in 66.6% of cases with amitriptyline, 20% with gabapentin and 10% with topiramate.
CONCLUSIONS: HC should be considered among the diagnostic hypotheses of patients with continuous headache, with no change in neurological examination and additional tests, regardless the age of onset. The standard treatment with indomethacin (100-150mg.day(-1)) has significant risks associated with both short and long term use and may not be a good choice for continuous use. Recent studies point out possible alternatives: gabapentin, topiramate, cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors, piroxicam,…
How strong is the evidence?
Evidence Hub reads this as a systematic review, done in people. Its evidence level is 1 of 5 (Highest · pooled evidence). Pooled evidence from several studies sits at the top of the evidence pyramid. Reported size: 1,600 participants or records.
Read the paper
Related studies
- Calcium Ions in the Physiology and Pathology of the Central Nervous System
- AI-powered in silico twins: redefining precision medicine through simulation, personalization, and predictive healthcare
- In silico functional, structural and pathogenicity analysis of missense single nucleotide polymorphisms in human MCM6 gene
- In Silico drug repurposing pipeline using deep learning and structure based approaches in epilepsy
- Targeting serotonin receptors with phytochemicals – an in-silico study
- In silico exploration of anti-prostate cancer compounds from differential expressed genes
Go deeper in Evidence Hub
Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.