A study of headaches and migraine in Sjogren's syndrome and other rheumatic disorders.

Abstract

SUMMARY Migraine occurs with increased frequency in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and in subjects suffering from Raynaud's phenomenon without any underlying connective tissue disorders. A possible link between migraine and Raynaud's phenomenon has been suggested. Two rheumatic conditions where Raynaud's phenomenon occurs very commonly are scleroderma and primary Sjogren's syndrome. It is possible that migraine is also common in these disorders but has been unrecognised. Therefore, the prevalence of migraine was assessed by a questionnaire in 191 subjects suffering from various connective tissue disorders and control subjects. Migraine was diagnosed in 16/35 (46%) patients with primary Sjogren's syndrome, 31/97 (32%) patients with scleroderma, 4/33 (12%) patients with rheumatoid arthritis/Sjogren's syndrome compared with 3/26 (11%) control subjects. A family history of headaches was more common in the patient groups than controls. There was a significant association between occurrence of Raynaud's phenomenon and migraine. Small vessel pathology may underlie both migraine and Raynaud's phenomenon in these connective tissue disorders-as has been suggested in systemic lupus erythematosus. The findings stress the need to ask specifically about complaints of headaches/migraines in patients with scleroderma and primary Sjogren's syndrome for the appropriate total management of these patients.

Does Chronic Daily Headache Arise De Novo in Association With Regular Use of Analgesics?

“…As Bowdler et al showed, 42 it most likely reflects drug availability and preferences. Studies addressing headache prevalence in patients with rheumatologic disorders are scant, but do suggest migraine prevalence similar to the general population 48 . The 1‐year prevalence of migraine in our total sample group was higher and for TTH lower than the respective population prevalence 49,50 .…”

An Association of Migraine with Hereditary Haemorrhagic Telangiectasia Independently of Pulmonary Right-to-Left Shunts

“…Increased TGF‐β plasma levels were found in 29 of 31 HHT patients (33), but did not differ between HHT‐1 and ‐2. Interestingly, systemic sclerosis, another disease with increased serum TGF‐β levels (34), is also associated with migraine (35).…”

Prevalence of headache in patients with Behcet's disease without overt neurological involvement

“…The pathogenesis of migraine in BD is open to discussion. It has been suggested that small vessels disease, characterizing several multisystemic vasculitis, such as systemic lupus erythematosus, Sjogren's syndrome, scleroderma but also BD, may cause cerebrovascular dysregulation, leading to migraine (11). However, we did not find any relationship between disease activity and the frequency, duration, and severity of migraineous attacks.…”