Cluster headache: on the mechanism behind attack-related sweating.
Eighteen cluster headache patients were studied using body heating or exercise tests; all but two of them were also studied with a pilocarpine test (0.1 mg/kg body wt, s.c.). Evaporimeter measurements were made on both sides of the forehead under standard conditions in a thermo room. Heat- and exercise-induced sweating was clearly less pronounced on the symptomatic side than on the non-symptomatic side of the forehead, and was significantly different compared to controls. Pilocarpine on the other hand induced a clearly more pronounced response on the symptomatic side than on the non-symptomatic side, which was also statistically significantly higher than in the control group. These findings suggest a supersensitivity of the sweat glands to pilocarpine on the symptomatic side of the forehead in most cases of cluster headache.
D000328:Adult; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000503:physiopathology*; D005260:Female; D006358:Hot Temperature; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D005082:Physical Exertion; D010862:Pilocarpine; D013545:Sweat Glands / Q000294:innervation; D013546:Sweating; D013564:Sympathetic Nervous System / Q000503:physiopathology; D014653:Vascular Headaches / Q000503:physiopathology*
D010862:Pilocarpine