ABSTRACT
AIM: To describe the clinical characteristics and therapeutic options available to paediatric patients with cluster headache. METHOD: Based on a literature search of the medical databases PubMed, LILACS, and Web of Science and using selected descriptors, we carried out a systematic review of case reports on cluster headache in paediatric patients published from 1990 to 2020. RESULTS: Fifty-one patients (29 males, 22 females) with a mean (SD) age of 9 years 7 months (3y 10mo; range 2-16y) were diagnosed with cluster headache. The mean (SD) diagnosis was made 27.8 months (26.2mo) after the onset of cluster headache. Pain occurred at night or on waking up (76.5%) and consisted of 1 to 3 attacks per day (62.7%) lasting 30 to 120 minutes (68.6%). Headaches were unilateral (90.2%), had a pulsatile character (64.7%), and severe intensity (100%). There were autonomic manifestations (90.2%) predominantly ipsilateral to pain, in this order: lacrimation; conjunctival injection; nasal congestion; ptosis; eyelid oedema; and rhinorrhoea. Sumatriptan and oxygen inhalation were the most effective treatments for acute manifestation. Prophylaxis, corticosteroids, verapamil, and gabapentin were the most effective drugs. INTERPRETATION: Due to the small number of published studies, this review could not provide reliable data; however, it appears that cluster headache in children and adolescents is similar to adults, both in clinical characteristics and treatment. What this paper adds Cluster headache in children and adolescents is poorly studied. Cluster headache is uncommon before 10 years of age and diagnosis is difficult in the first few years of life. Treatment of cluster headache in children and adolescents is similar to that used in adults. The notion of the effectiveness of prophylactic treatment is based only on authors' experience.
Subject(s)
Cluster Headache/physiopathology , Cluster Headache/therapy , Adolescent , Adrenal Cortex Hormones/therapeutic use , Blepharoptosis/physiopathology , Child , Child, Preschool , Gabapentin/therapeutic use , Humans , Oxygen Inhalation Therapy , Rhinorrhea/physiopathology , Sumatriptan/therapeutic use , Tears/physiology , Vasoconstrictor Agents/therapeutic use , Verapamil/therapeutic useABSTRACT
The aim of this study was to review the life of Edgard Raffaelli Júnior (1930-2006) and to summarize his important contributions to the study of headaches. He was the first doctor to study headaches in Latin America, and for 50 years he advanced the understanding of headaches worldwide. He was born in São Paulo, Brazil, on March 2, 1930 and died on December 29, 2006. He founded the Brazilian Headache Society and was one of the organizers and founders of the International Headache Society. Following Raffaelli, many Latin American doctors have since been inspired to study headaches.
