title: Epicrania fugax: an ultrabrief paroxysmal epicranial pain.
abstract: Ten patients (one man and nine women, mean age 48.8 +/- 20.1) presented with a stereotypical and undescribed type of head pain. They complained of strictly unilateral, shooting pain paroxysms starting in a focal area of the posterior parietal or temporal region and rapidly spreading forward to the ipsilateral eye (n = 7) or nose (n = 3) along a lineal or zigzag trajectory, the complete sequence lasting 1-10 s. Two patients had ipsilateral lacrimation, and one had rhinorrhoea at the end of the attacks. The attacks could be either spontaneous or triggered by touch on the stemming area (n = 2), which could otherwise remain tender or slightly painful between the paroxysms (n = 5). The frequency ranged from two attacks per month to countless attacks per day, and the temporal pattern was either remitting (n = 5) or chronic (n = 5). This clinical picture might be a variant of an established headache or represent a novel syndrome.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Fundación Hospital Alcorcón and Rey Juan Carlos University, Alcorcón, Madrid, Spain. japareja@fhalcorcon.es
authors.forename: J A
authors.initials: JA
authors.lastname: Pareja
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Cuadrado
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Fernández-de-las-Peñas
authors.forename: A B
authors.initials: AB
authors.lastname: Caminero
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Nieto
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Sánchez
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sols
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Porta-Etessam
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005157:Facial Pain / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000473:pathology; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010146:Pain / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology