title: Blood volume pulse biofeedback treatment of chronic cluster headache.
abstract: Behavioral interventions shown to be clinically effective in the treatment of migraine headache have generally not been employed for cluster headache. Herein, we report on the treatment of a severe case of chronic cluster headache with a common method of migraine treatment, temporal blood volume pulse (BVP) biofeedback. The patient was a 61-year-old male, medically diagnosed as suffering from chronic cluster headaches for over 20 years. Following an 18-day baseline, 14 BVP biofeedback sessions were conducted over a 7-week period. By the last 2 weeks of treatment, there was a 70% reduction in daily headache frequency and a 45% decrease in headache severity. Improvement was maintained at 1, 3, 6, 12, and 21 months follow-up. Large decreases in the consumption of migraine abortives , narcotic analgesics, and antiemetics were also observed. These encouraging results call for further evaluation of the efficacy of BVP biofeedback treatment of chronic cluster headache.
mesh_terms: D001676:Biofeedback, Psychology; D001810:Blood Volume; D002560:Cerebrovascular Circulation; D003027:Cluster Headache / Q000628:therapy*; D003131:Combined Modality Therapy; D004576:Electromyography; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011674:Pulse; D014653:Vascular Headaches / Q000628:therapy*