TY - JOUR

T1 - Hemicrania Continua

T2 - An Update

AU - Al-Khazali, Haidar M.

AU - Christensen, Rune Häckert

AU - Lambru, Giorgio

AU - Dodick, David W.

AU - Ashina, Håkan

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.

PY - 2023

Y1 - 2023

N2 - Purpose of Review: Hemicrania Continua (HC) is a rare and disabling primary headache disorder that is characterized by persistent, unilateral headache with ipsilateral, cranial autonomic symptoms and restlessness or agitation. The diagnosis requires patients to experience an absolute response to therapeutic doses of indomethacin. Recent Findings: HC is diagnosed in in about 1.8% of adult patients who were evaluated for headache in tertiary care services, albeit this estimate should be interpreted with caution. The most prevalent accompanying symptoms appear to be lacrimation, conjunctival injection and restlessness or agitation. However, the available literature is limited by methodologic issues, and the current diagnostic criteria lack clarity on what defines absolute response to indomethacin. More rigorous studies are thus needed to improve our understanding of HC which, in turn, will facilitate better disease management in clinical practice. Summary: Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of HC, including its epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and management.

AB - Purpose of Review: Hemicrania Continua (HC) is a rare and disabling primary headache disorder that is characterized by persistent, unilateral headache with ipsilateral, cranial autonomic symptoms and restlessness or agitation. The diagnosis requires patients to experience an absolute response to therapeutic doses of indomethacin. Recent Findings: HC is diagnosed in in about 1.8% of adult patients who were evaluated for headache in tertiary care services, albeit this estimate should be interpreted with caution. The most prevalent accompanying symptoms appear to be lacrimation, conjunctival injection and restlessness or agitation. However, the available literature is limited by methodologic issues, and the current diagnostic criteria lack clarity on what defines absolute response to indomethacin. More rigorous studies are thus needed to improve our understanding of HC which, in turn, will facilitate better disease management in clinical practice. Summary: Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of HC, including its epidemiology, clinical presentation, diagnostic evaluation, and management.

KW - Clinical Characteristics

KW - Epidemiology

KW - Headache

KW - Hemicrania Continua

KW - Indomethacin

KW - Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalalgias

U2 - 10.1007/s11916-023-01156-9

DO - 10.1007/s11916-023-01156-9

M3 - Review

C2 - 37566220

AN - SCOPUS:85167653332

VL - 27

SP - 543

EP - 550

JO - Current Pain and Headache Reports

JF - Current Pain and Headache Reports

SN - 1531-3433

IS - 10

ER -