title: A touchy subject: an assessment of cutaneous allodynia in a chronic migraine population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Cutaneous allodynia (CA) is a common feature of migraine, which has a complex underlying pathophysiology that is not well understood. In addition to pain, photophobia, phonophobia, osmophobia, nausea, and vomiting, CA can contribute to the overall disability caused by migraine. The presence of CA can be established via a validated questionnaire. Validated questionnaires and other tests are rarely performed in clinical practice. As such, current prevalence estimates for CA may be an underestimation.
  
  
  METHODS
  Utilizing a validated questionnaire, we assessed the presence of CA in consecutive patients (n=44) presenting with chronic migraine at a tertiary headache center.
  
  
  RESULTS
  CA appears to be quite prevalent, at ~90%, among female patients with chronic migraine.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  CA prevalence in chronic migraine may be underestimated in the literature, and larger studies may better demonstrate a more accurate estimate of its prevalence.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, John R Graham Headache Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA; Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Paul G
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Mathew
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Fred Michael
authors.initials: FM
authors.lastname: Cutrer
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA.
authors.forename: Ivan
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Garza
keywords: central sensitization; headache; migraine chronification; validated questionnaire