J Headache Pain (2001) 2:57–66 © Springer-Verlag 2001 REVIEW Piotr Kruszewski Cluster headache and SUNCT: similarities Juan A. Pareja Ana B. Caminero and differences Ottar Sjaastad Received: 2 April 2001 Abstract SUNCT is probably a dis- Laboratory investigations have dis- Accepted: 23 July 2001 tinct syndrome, although it shares closed differences as regards pres- some common features with cluster ence or absence of Horner-like pic- headache (CH): male sex preponder- ture and possibly also the respiratory ance, clustering of attacks, unilateral- sinus arrhythmia pattern. All in all, P. Kruszewski • J.A. Pareja • O. Sjaastad Department of Neurology, ity of headache without sideshift, these differences seem sufficiently Trondheim University Hospitals, pain of non-pulsating type with its ponderous to make it likely that Regionsykehuset i Trondheim, maximum in the periocular area, SUNCT syndrome and CH differ Trondheim, Norway ipsilateral autonomic phenomena essentially. SUNCT seems to be a (e.g. conjunctival injection, lacrima- “neuralgiform” headache, but differ- ౧ P. Kruszewski ( ) tion, rhinorrhea, increased forehead ent from trigeminal neuralgia. Department of Hypertension sweating), systemic blood pressure and Diabetology, Medical University of Gdansk, increment with heart rate decrement, Key words Cluster headache • Debinki 7, PL-80-211 Gdansk, Poland blood flow velocity decrement in the SUNCT syndrome • Trigeminal neu- e-mail:
[email protected] middle cerebral artery, and hyperven- ralgia • Horner’s syndrome • Auto- Tel.: +48-58-3492341 tilation. In spite of these similarities, nomic nervous system dysfunction Fax: +48-58-3492341 SUNCT syndrome differs clearly J.A. Pareja from CH as regards a number of Department of Neurology, clinical variables, such as duration, Hospital Ruber Internacional, intensity, frequency, and nocturnal Madrid, Spain preponderance of attacks.