title: Cervicogenic headache: lack of influence of pregnancy.
abstract: The influence of pregnancy upon the head pain of cervicogenic headache (CEH) has been studied in 14 patients (number of pregnancies 25). Migraine was used as control group (n = 49; number of pregnancies 116). CEH was diagnosed according to The Cervicogenic Headache International Study Group guidelines. Migraine was diagnosed according to International Headache Society (IHS) guidelines; a further requirement was that at least eight of nine solitary IHS diagnostic requirements of migraine were present. In 79%-or more-of CEH patients, attacks seemed to appear just as usual during pregnancy; in one patient, attacks stopped completely, and in two there may have been a minor reduction of attacks. A significantly lower number of migraine patients (up to 18%) were more or less uninfluenced by pregnancy (CEH vs. migraine P < 0.0001, chi2 test). The lack of response to pregnancy may be a sort of biological marker in CEH. It may also help in clinically distinguishing CEH from migraine when CEH starts early in life, i.e. prior to pregnancies.
authors.affiliation: Vågå Communal Health Centre, Vågåmo, Norway.
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Sjaastad
authors.forename: T A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Fredriksen
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D020773:Headache Disorders / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D008881:Migraine Disorders / Q000145:classification / Q000503:physiopathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013997:Time Factors