Characterization of headaches in the premenstrual tension syndrome.
OBJECTIVE
Characterization of headaches in premenstrual syndrome (PMS). Although headache is one of the symptoms for PMS, no details on this headache are given by the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology (ACOG) criteria.


METHODS
A group of 45 fertile age women presenting PMS were invited to complete a registration diary for headache and PMS symptoms for three consecutive months. The diary included details of each headache attack, allowing for classification according to the International Headache Society criteria (IHS-2004).


RESULTS
Migraine without aura was the most common type of headache in PMS (n=27, 60%), followed by tension type headache (n=15, 30%). Only in two cases the type of headache varied among the observed months, and only in one case the diagnosis could not be concluded by the IHS-2004 criteria.


CONCLUSIONS
Better clinical and therapeutic approach to headache in PMS can be achieved if the patient's type of headache could be properly characterized.
Fragoso
Yara Dadalti
YD
Medical Faculty, Universidade Metropolitana de Santos, Santos, SP, Brazil. yara@bsnet.com.br
Guidoni
Andrea Cristina Rodrigues
AC
de Castro
Luciana Brites Ribeiro
LB