title: Acute and interictal allodynia in patients with different headache forms: an Italian pilot study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate allodynia in patients with different primary headaches.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  Many migraineurs have allodynia during headache attacks; some may have allodynia outside attacks; allodynia may also be associated with other primary headaches.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 260 consecutive primary headache patients presenting for the first time at a headache center, and 23 nonheadache controls answered written questions (subsequently repeated verbally) to determine the presence of acute and interictal allodynia.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We divided the patients into: episodic migraine (N = 177), subdivided into only migraine without aura (N = 114) and those sometimes or always reporting migraine with aura (N = 63); episodic tension-type headache (N = 28); chronic headaches (headache > or = 15 days/month, N = 52), including chronic migraine, chronic tension-type headache, and medication-overuse headache; and other headache forms (N = 3). Acute allodynia was present in 132 (50.7%), significantly more often in patients sometimes or always suffering migraine with aura, and those with chronic headache forms, compared to patients with migraine without aura and episodic tension-type headache. Interictal allodynia was present in 63 (24.2%) patients, with significantly higher frequency in those having migraine with aura attacks than controls and common migraine patients.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Allodynia is not specific to migraine but is frequent in all headache patients: acute allodynia was reported in half those interviewed and in over a third of patients in each headache category; interictal allodynia was reported by nearly 25%.
authors: Neurology Unit, Department of Clinical Sciences L. Sacco, University of Milan, Italy.
authors: Carlo
authors: C
authors: Lovati
authors: Domenico
authors: D
authors: D'Amico
authors: Pierluigi
authors: P
authors: Bertora
authors: Silvia
authors: S
authors: Rosa
authors: Massimo
authors: M
authors: Suardelli
authors: Enrico
authors: E
authors: Mailland
authors: Claudio
authors: C
authors: Mariani
authors: Genaro
authors: G
authors: Bussone
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D006801:Humans; D006930:Hyperalgesia / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000503:physiopathology*; D007558:Italy / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017288:Pain Threshold / Q000502:physiology*; D010865:Pilot Projects