Long-Lasting Cephalic Jabs (?) The Vågå Study of Headache Epidemiology

Abstract

Jabs (stabs) usually last < or = 3 s and are located in the skull area, mostly anteriorly. In many cases, there are only a few jabs during lifetime. With this definition, jabs are frequent, thus at 35.2% in the Vågå study of headache epidemiology. Long-lasting jabs (?), i.e. paroxysms lasting 10-120 s, were present in six out of 1779 parishioners. These pain paroxysms seemed mainly to be side-locked, but could not be provoked. Possibly, these long-lasting jabs after all mainly are regular jabs. To include the < or = 2-minute-long paroxysms among the jabs will necessitate a rather drastic change of criteria. This group of jabs may, nevertheless, be heterogeneous. In two parishioners, the paroxysms were associated with a migraine-like pain. The paroxysms occasionally became most intense (2-10 times the basal pain), and then, and only then, were they combined with stark, visual phenomena: wave-like movements ('undulation'), anopsia, but also: immense dizziness, nausea/vomiting. The nature of the side-locked basal pain, although migraine-like, remains unsolved.

The rare, unilateral headaches. Vågå study of headache epidemiology

“…A peculiar feature was that during these short-lasting paroxysms, dizziness overshadowed the pain part. There were, however, no visual disturbances/disturbances of depth vision, ocular pain or nausea, as described elsewhere, and the jabs were never protracted [29]. Usually, these episodes were non-synchronous with M-A.…”

“…Prolonged jabs (? ), i.e., jabs with a duration up to 120 s, have been dealt with separately [29]. The present group makes up <1% of jabs in Vågå, where jabs were found in 35.2% of the population.…”

The “Other” Headaches: Primary Cough, Exertion, Sex, and Primary Stabbing Headaches

“…Nevertheless, long-lasting cephalic jabs had been reported [27]. Clinic-based studies showed PSH occurred more often in migraineurs [5, 6, 15••].…”

Primärer Donnerschlagkopfschmerz

“…Interessanterweise scheint auch ein anderes, akut beginnendes, im Zeitverlauf nur deutlich kürzeres Kopfschmerzsyndrom mit heftigen Attacken eine Verbindung zur Migräne zu haben, das Jabs-and-Jolts-Syndrom bzw. "longlasting cephalic jabs" [13]. Pathophysiologisch wird eine akute neuronale Entladung im trigeminalen System diskutiert [13].…”

“…"longlasting cephalic jabs" [13]. Pathophysiologisch wird eine akute neuronale Entladung im trigeminalen System diskutiert [13]. Die Migräne führt neben einer kurzen initialen Hyperämie zu einer dann länger anhaltenden Oligoämie, was als Folge einer kortikalen Spreading-Depression angesehen wird [2], wobei diese Prozesse auch subakut beginnen können, wie akute Auren, z.B.…”