Epicrania fugax: an ultrabrief paroxysmal epicranial pain

Cephalalgia, Volume 28, Number 3, March 2008 , pp. 257-263(7)
Abstract:
Pareja JA, Cuadrado ML, Fernández-de-las-Peñas C, Caminero AB, Nieto C, Sánchez C, Sols M & Porta-Etessam J. Epicrania fugax: an ultrabrief paroxysmal epicranial pain. Cephalalgia 2007. London. ISSN 0333-1024
 
Ten patients (one man and nine women, mean age 48.8 ± 20.1) presented with a stereotypical and undescribed type of head pain. They complained of strictly unilateral, shooting pain paroxysms starting in a focal area of the posterior parietal or temporal region and rapidly spreading forward to the ipsilateral eye (n = 7) or nose (n = 3) along a lineal or zigzag trajectory, the complete sequence lasting 1-10 s. Two patients had ipsilateral lacrimation, and one had rhinorrhoea at the end of the attacks. The attacks could be either spontaneous or triggered by touch on the stemming area (n = 2), which could otherwise remain tender or slightly painful between the paroxysms (n = 5). The frequency ranged from two attacks per month to countless attacks per day, and the temporal pattern was either remitting (n = 5) or chronic (n = 5). This clinical picture might be a variant of an established headache or represent a novel syndrome.

Document Type: Research article
DOI: 10.1111/j.1468-2982.2007.01515.x
Affiliations: 1: Department of Neurology, Fundación Hospital Alcorcón and Rey Juan Carlos University, 2: Department of Physical Therapy, Rey Juan Carlos University, Alcorcón, Madrid, 3: Department of Neurology, Hospital Na Sa de Sonsoles, Ávila, 4: Department of Anaesthesiology, Fundación Hospital Alcorcón and Rey Juan Carlos University, 5: Department of Dermatology, Fundación Hospital Alcorcón, Alcorcón, and 6: Department of Neurology, Hospital Clínico San Carlos, Madrid, Spain