Abstract
ObjectiveAlcohol has been recognized as the main trigger for a cluster headache attack, but clinical features to distinguish between cluster headache in drinkers and nondrinkers are unclear. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate the differences in clinical features of cluster headache between drinkers and nondrinkers.MethodsThis retrospective, observational study compared the clinical features of cluster headache between drinkers and nondrinkers among patients who were diagnosed with cluster headache between November 2004 and April 2018 at the Japanese Red Cross Shizuoka Hospital. Demographic and clinical data were collected from medical records and/or by patient interview.ResultsOf 131 patients, 98 (75%) were drinkers, and 33 (25%) were nondrinkers. Compared with nondrinkers, drinkers had significantly more frequent conjunctival injection (43% vs. 21%, p = 0.037) but significantly less frequent nasal congestion (31% vs. 52%, p = 0.0037), vomiting (11% vs. 30%, p = 0.014), and photophobia (29% vs. 45%, p = 0.008).ConclusionAmong individuals with cluster headache, the frequencies of conjunctival injection, nasal congestion, vomiting, and photophobia were different between drinkers and nondrinkers. These results suggested that drinking might influence the responses of the cranial autonomic reflex with respect to conjunctival injection or nasal congestion.
Highlights
Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache syndrome that is characterized by recurrent brief attacks of severe, exclusively unilateral pain that lasts for 15–180 min and has been associated with cranial autonomic symptoms and restlessness [1]
Among individuals with cluster headache, the frequencies of conjunctival injection, nasal congestion, vomiting, and photophobia were different between drinkers and nondrinkers. These results suggested that drinking might influence the responses of the cranial autonomic reflex with respect to conjunctival injection or nasal congestion
Our study showed that conjunctival injection was significantly more common among drinkers than among nondrinkers, whereas nasal congestion, vomiting, and photophobia were significantly less common
Summary
Cluster headache (CH) is a primary headache syndrome that is characterized by recurrent brief attacks of severe, exclusively unilateral pain that lasts for 15–180 min and has been associated with cranial autonomic symptoms and restlessness [1]. Most previous studies on alcohol-triggered CH were confined to Caucasian populations [2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9], and only two reports were from Asia, Taiwan and China [10, 11]. These studies described the frequency at which an attack could be elicited by drinking. The present study aimed to clarify the alcohol-related clinical features of CH patients in Japan and to investigate differences in these clinical features between drinkers and nondrinkers
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