The journal of headache and pain
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Randomized Controlled Trial
No effect of pure oxygen inhalation on headache induced by glyceryl trinitrate.
Inhalation of hyperbaric oxygen has been used as an experimental treatment for migraine and pure oxygen is an established treatment for cluster headache. Intravenous glyceryl trinitrate (GTN) is an established headache model. In the present study the possibility of decreasing the headache by inhalation of pure oxygen was explored in a double-blind crossover design in 18 healthy subjects. ⋯ Sixteen of 18 (89%) subjects experienced GTN-induced headache after O(2)-inhalation and 17/18 (94%) experienced GTN-induced headache after air. The mean peak headache scores were 1.9 and 2.4, respectively, on a numerical scale of 0-10. Oxygen inhalation did not have effect on GTN-induced headache, most likely because the theoretical decrease in NO levels, due to faster metabolism of NO, is too small to be detected in the GTN headache model.
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Hemiplegic migraines are characterised by attacks of migraine with aura accompanied by transient motor weakness. There are both familial and sporadic subtypes, which are now recognised as separate entities by the International Classification of Headache Disorders, edition II (ICHD-II). ⋯ We report the case of a woman with sporadic hemiplegic migraine associated with CREST syndrome (calcinosis, Raynaud's phenomenon, esophageal dysmotility, sclerodactyly and telangiectasia). Since there is a close relationship between migraine and Raynaud's phenomenon, it could be speculated that the sporadic hemiplegic migraines in our patient might be secondary to CREST syndrome.