Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgias

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What Are Trigeminal Autonomic Cephalgias?

This is a group of headaches in which the pain can be somewhat similar to cluster headache, but other characteristics of the headache may be different, particularly the timing. The common features of the "autonomic" headaches are those symptoms that involve the autonomic nervous system, such as tears, redness of the eye, nasal stuffiness, pupil change, drooping of the eyelid, redness of the cheek or pain in the region of the eye.

The various autonomic cephalgias differ in definition by the duration and frequency of the headache attacks, as well as by some of the symptoms. Most of them respond to a medication called indomethacin.

The main types of trigeminal autonomic cephalgias are cluster headache, paroxysmal headache, and SUNCT, an acronym for Short-lasting, Unilateral, Neuralgiform headache attacks with Conjunctival injection and Tearing.