The response to sodium valproate of patients with sinus headaches with normal endoscopic and CT findings

Abstract

The objectives of this study are to evaluate the patients who have sinus headaches, either self-ascribed or physician-diagnosed, and to determinate the response to sodium valproate in a prophylactic treatment of the patients without positive sino-nasal findings. "Sinus headache" is a patient's complaint or physician-diagnosis that can have a variety of underlying causes. The patients are often treated with multiple courses of antibiotics and occasionally undergo a sinus surgery, often with little or no relief of their symptoms. One hundred and four patients with "sinus headaches" were evaluated prospectively. The patients with a normal rigid nasal endoscopy and a paranasal sinus computed tomography scan were treated with sodium valproate as a prophylactic treatment. After a 3-month follow-up, the patients' response to the treatment was evaluated. Seventy-two patients (69.2%) did not have any positive sino-nasal findings in the nasal endoscopy and the computed tomography scanning. The response rate to the treatment for these patients was as follows: significant improvement in 44 patients (61.1%), partial response (9.7%), no response (15.3%), and ten patients (13.9%) withdrew or failed to follow-up. According to Wilcoxon test, the patients' response rate to sodium valproate was statistically significant (P = 0.001). In conclusion, a majority of "sinus headache" patients do not show any positive sino-nasal pathologic finding. Therefore, we have to consider migraine headache as a considerable cause and sodium valproate as an effective conservative treatment.