The prevalence of headache in Behçet's syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
Behçet's syndrome is an uncommon systemic disorder that involves the nervous system in 5% of cases. Headache may arise in conjunction with such complications but also appears to occur independently. We sought to define the prevalence of headache in an unselected group of patients with Behçet's syndrome, to characterize the headache syndromes and to identify what treatments are being used.


METHODS
A questionnaire was sent to an unselected group of patients through their support group newsletter.


RESULTS
The results showed a prevalence of recurrent headache in 82.5% of responders; the majority exhibited symptoms that fulfilled the International Headache Society criteria for migraine, with a higher than normal prevalence of visual or sensory aura of 52%. Using the Migraine Disability Assessment (MIDAS) score for disability in migraine, 62% of responders showed moderate or severe disability. Headache treatment was poor, the majority of sufferers resorting to over-the-counter remedies; preventative treatments had rarely been prescribed.


CONCLUSIONS
Recurrent headache is very common in Behçet's syndrome, is poorly treated and is associated with disablement.
Kidd
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Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Royal Free Hospital and FRC/UCL School of Medicine, London, UK. d.kidd@medsch.ucl.ac.uk
D000700:Analgesics / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001528:Behcet Syndrome / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D051271:Headache Disorders, Secondary / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology*; D006801:Humans; D020325:Migraine with Aura / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000453:epidemiology; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D006113:United Kingdom / Q000453:epidemiology
D000700:Analgesics