Rev Neurol France
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The normal female life cycle is associated with a number of hormonal milestones: menarche, pregnancy, contraceptive use, menopause, and the use of replacement sex hormones. Menarche marks the onset of menses and cyclic changes in hormone levels. Pregnancy is associated with rising noncyclic levels of sex hormones, and menopause with declining noncyclic levels. ⋯ Migraine may worsen during the first trimester of pregnancy and, although many women become headache-free during the last two trimesters, 25p. 100 have no change in their migraine (Silberstein, 1997). MM typically improves with pregnancy, perhaps due to sustained high estrogen levels (Silberstein, 1997). Hormonal replacement with estrogens can exacerbate migraine and oral contraceptives (OCs) can change its character and frequency
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In childhood and adolescence, migraine is the main essential chronic headache. This diagnosis is extensively underestimated and misdiagnosed in pediatric population. Lacks of specific biologic marker, specific investigation or brain imaging reduce these clinical entities too often to a psychological illness. ⋯ If the oral route in not available when nausea or vomiting occurs, the rectal or nasal routes have then to be used. Non pharmacological treatments (biofeedback and interventions combining progressive muscle relaxation) have shown to have good efficacy as prophylactic measure. Daily prophylactic pharmacological treatments are prescribed in second line after failure of non-pharmacological treatment.
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Prophylactic treatment is mainly intended to reduce the frequency of migraine attacks. It is usually proposed to patients who suffer from two or more attacks per month. It should also be considered in patients who suffer from less frequent, but prolonged, disabling attacks with a poor response to abortive treatment, and who consider that their quality of life is reduced between attacks. ⋯ If the drug is judged ineffective, an overuse of symptomatic medications should be checked, as well as a poor compliance, either of which may be responsible. In case of a successful treatment, it should be continued for 6 or 12 months, and then, one should try to taper off the dose in order to stop the treatment or at least to find the minimum active dose. Relaxation, biofeedback, stress coping therapies, acupuncture are also susceptible to be effective in migraine prophylaxis.
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Cluster Headache associates a severe pain generally unilateral and autonomic symptoms with a remarkable periodicity. In the first part we tried to explain the conception of physiopathology of these short lasting headache syndromes and in the second part we described the clinical features. The short lasting primary headaches are divided into two groups: those with marked autonomic activation which comprise chronic and episodic paroxysmal hemicrania, short lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache with conjunctival injection and tearing (SUNCT syndrome) and cluster headache. ⋯ The paroxysmal hemicranias are characterized by attack frequency ranges from 15 to 20 per day of short lasting attacks of unilateral pain that typically last 2 to 10 minutes, the severe pain is associated with autonomic symptoms and responds to treatment with indomethacin. The SUNCT syndrome has a less severe pain but marked autonomic activation during attacks, this syndrome is actually resistant to proposed therapy. The Hypnic Headache and the Hemicrania Continua have yet less severe pain with very mild or without autonomic features.
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The thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) encompasses various clinical entities affecting the neurovascular bundle crossing the thoracic outlet. Unfortunately, this term often proves to be confusing because many of these entities have little in common beyond their known or presumed lesion site. Neurogenic TOS (true TOS) is caused by compression of the lower trunk in the brachial plexus, the cervical ribs or fibrous band. ⋯ Pain was relieved after 1 to 4 weeks. A minimal motor improvement was observed after one year. Electrophysiological results were unchanged.