Hemicrania continua
Alerts and Notices
Synopsis
For most patients with hemicrania continua, the headache will persist for life without appropriate preventive treatment. Hemicrania continua is absolutely responsive to indomethacin, and lack of response suggests an alternative diagnosis.
There are 2 subclasses of hemicrania continua: the remitting subtype and the unremitting subtype. Patients with the remitting subtype typically experience periods of remission of headache lasting at least 24 hours in duration. In the unremitting subtype, the headache is continuous for at least 1 year without remission periods. The majority of patients have the unremitting subtype.
Hemicrania continua is a rare condition, with approximately 100 cases reported worldwide. The disorder is more common in women, with an estimated female to male ratio of 1.8 to 1. The mean age at onset is in the 30s; however, it has also been diagnosed in children and elderly individuals.
Codes
ICD10CM:G44.51 – Hemicrania continua
SNOMEDCT:
443095000 – Hemicrania Continua
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Diagnostic Pearls
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Differential Diagnosis & Pitfalls
- Migraine headache
- Trigeminal neuralgia
- New daily persistent headache
- Cluster headache
- Long-lasting autonomic symptoms with hemicrania
- SUNCT (short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks with conjunctival injection and tearing)
- SUNA (short-lasting unilateral neuralgiform headache attacks) with cranial autonomic features
- Paroxysmal hemicrania
- Cervicalgia
- Arteriovenous malformations
- Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis (see cerebral stroke)
- Cervical artery dissection
- Cervical radiculopathy
- Pituitary tumors
- Brain tumor (eg, glioblastoma multiforme, oligodendroglioma, ependymoma, medulloblastoma)
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Therapy
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References
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Last Reviewed:03/13/2018
Last Updated:03/22/2018
Last Updated:03/22/2018