Benito's neuralgia: the first description of the occipital neuralgia was made for Spanish doctors at the beginning of the nineteenth century.

BACKGROUND: The occipital neuralgia affects 3 out of every 100,000 people and includes the neuralgia of the greater occipital nerve (GON) and the neuralgia of the minor and third occipital nerves. These nerves emerge from the posterior branches of the first cervical roots, innervate the muscles of the nape, and provide the sensitivity of the scalp. The most frequent issue is not to find causes that justify neuralgia for what is usually idiopathic. The nerve that most often causes neuralgia is the GON that is usually wrongly called Arnold's nerve, so neuralgia is also called Arnold's neuralgia. METHODS: We have reviewed the first description of occipital neuralgia. RESULTS: Two Spanish doctors, José Benito Lentijo and Mateo Martínez Ramos, had already described in detail the neuralgia of the GON before Arnold was born. The first clinical case of occipital neuralgia due to GON involvement was published by them in a Spanish medical journal in 1821, and they called it cervico-suboccipital neuralgia. CONCLUSION: We claim in this article the role of these two Spanish doctors in the history of Neurology.

"All the World Is Gone to the Assembly": Elizabeth Carter's Headaches, Nerves, and (In)Sociability.

Elizabeth Carter suffered from severe headaches all her life. Her letters are peppered with references to fits of "head-ach" so bad they made her bold enough to demand her own room wherever she visited, and to cherish a preference for solitude contrary to the ideal of Bluestocking sociability. Following her friends and physicians, she bowed to fashionable diagnoses in considering these headaches the result of a nervous constitution, and she was prescribed the usual remedies, including sociable trips to fashionable watering places. While positioning her sufferings within the frame of fashionable diseases, Carter tried to dissociate herself from fashionable sensibility, and struggled to gain acceptance for her pain as part of her body's "mechanism" by using a more old-fashioned, religious interpretative frame. This case study of Carter's headaches thus charts Carter's own understanding of her constitution, her body, and her pain within-and without-the framework of eighteenth-century fashionable diseases.

New Daily Persistent Headache: Historical Review and an Interview with Dr. Walter Vanast.

New daily persistent headache (NDPH) is an idiopathic headache syndrome characterized by the abrupt onset of an unremitting, daily, continuous headache without an antecedent escalating headache pattern, and not attributable to other primary or secondary headache disorders. We review the history of NDPH in terms of its characterization and classification, and then interview Dr. Walter Vanast, the neurologist who initially described NDPH three decades ago, to gain his perspective now that there is more widespread recognition and interest in this syndrome.

[Electrotherapy for headaches]. / De elektrische behandeling van hoofdpijn.

Neuromodulation is being applied increasingly for the treatment of drug resistant headache. Although these techniques are often considered high-tech, electrotherapy for headache has a long history; electric fish have been used for headache treatment since the first century CE. During the eighteenth and nineteenth century, static electricity was a treatment for a wide variety of neuropsychiatric disorders including headache. The efficacy of electrotherapy, however, has been disputed continuously, since opponents were of the opinion that the positive results could be attributed to suggestion. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the electric treatment of headache gradually disappeared. In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the use of electrotherapy, along with the efficacy debate. With this historical review we wish to emphasize the importance of placebo-controlled studies, not only in terms of electrotherapy of headache, but also for the evaluation of neuromodulation for other disorders.

Chronobiological correlates of headache: three decades on.

In 1983 an international symposium entitled "Chronobiological Correlates of Headache" was held in Capri. This meeting provided an opportunity to debate new and stimulating aspects of headache, in particular the temporal pattern of headache and the periodicity of the underlying biological and environmental phenomena. Giuseppe Nappi presented his dyschronic hypothesis of primary headaches, which was based on the observation that these conditions involve not only a dysfunction in pain control systems, but also a vulnerability of the rhythmic physiological organization of the central nervous system. He suggested that the hypothalamus played a key role in this vulnerability. Several decades on, thanks to the advent of new technologies (functional neuroimaging and neurophysiological studies), this hypothesis has been supported by scientific data.

Revisiting the role of ergots in the treatment of migraine and headache.

The harmful side effects of the ergots described by early civilizations have been overcome with efficacious treatment for headaches including migraine, cluster, and chronic daily headache. Use of ergots contributed to initial theories of migraine pathogenesis and provided the substrate for development of the triptans. Triptans are very efficacious for many migraineurs, and since their widespread use, use of ergots has significantly declined. Unfortunately, there remain many migraineurs who benefit little from triptans, yet respond very well to ergots. Discoveries in migraine pathophysiology have given us better understanding of the complex processes involved, although there remain many unknown factors in migraine treatment. Additional, unrecognized therapeutic targets may exist throughout the neuronal connections of the brainstem, cortex, and cerebral vasculature. Ergots interact with a broader spectrum of receptors than triptans. This lack of receptor specificity explains potential ergot side effects, but may also account for efficacy. The role of ergots in headache should be revisited, especially in view of newer ergot formulations with improved tolerability and side effect profiles, such as orally inhaled dihydroergotamine. Redefining where in the headache treatment spectrum ergots belong and deciding when they may be the optimal choice of treatment is necessary.

The International Classification of Headache Disorders.

A set of related medical disorders that lack a proper classification system and diagnostic criteria is like a society without laws. The result is incoherence at best, chaos at worst. For this reason, the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD) is arguably the single most important breakthrough in headache medicine over the last 50 years. The ICHD identifies and categorizes more than a hundred different kinds of headache in a logical, hierarchal system. Even more important, it has provided explicit diagnostic criteria for all of the headache disorders listed. The ICHD quickly became universally accepted, and criticism of the classification has been minor relative to that directed at other disease classification systems. Over the 20 years following publication of the first edition of the ICHD, headache research has rapidly accelerated despite sparse allocation of resources to that effort. In summary, the ICHD has attained widespread acceptance at the international level and has substantially facilitated both clinical research and clinical care in the field of headache medicine.

The "Byzantine Classification" of headache disorders.

Headache makes up a major chapter in the writings of the great medical authors of the Byzantine period (324 to 1453 CE). This important period was the natural link between antiquity and the Renaissance, one that is greatly appreciated by researchers of the history of medicine. A detailed analysis was made of the original Greek medical texts, of the most important Byzantine physicians in order to relate their descriptions to the recent classification according to the International Headache Society criteria. The "Byzantine Classification" of headache follows the ancient tradition, adopting the main classifications already described. Byzantine authors passed on the earlier knowledge, adding some subcategories and some more descriptions and therapeutic options. In many cases, subcategories and descriptions are reminiscent of the modern classification and corresponding criteria.

Harry Potter and the curse of headache.

Headache disorders are common in children and adolescents. Even young male Wizards are disabled by them. In this article we review Harry Potter's headaches as described in the biographical series by JK Rowling. Moreover, we attempt to classify them. Regrettably we are not privy to the Wizard system of classifying headache disorders and are therefore limited to the Muggle method, the International Classification of Headache Disorders, 2nd edition (ICHD-II). Harry's headaches are recurrent. Although conforming to a basic stereotype, and constant in location, throughout the 6 years of his adolescence so far described they have shown a tendency to progression. Later descriptions include a range of accompanying symptoms. Despite some quite unusual features, they meet all but one of the ICHD-II criteria for migraine, so allowing the diagnosis of 1.6 Probable migraine.

Hans von Bülow: creativity and neurological disease in a famous pianist and conductor.

Hans von Bülow (1830-1894) was a conductor and pianist of worldwide reputation and founder of many stylistic interpretations of classic and romantic symphonies. The close friendship with Richard Wagner, but not the enthusiastic admiration of his dramatic musical opus, ended abruptly when Hans von Bülow became aware of the betrayal of his wife Cosima and Richard Wagner. Hans von Bülow reported symptoms and signs of neurological disease in many letters that were kept and edited by his second wife Marie. For decades he suffered from chronic neuralgiforme headaches, which were caused by a tumor of the cervical radicular nerves. At the age of 45 years, he suddenly developed a motorsensory deficit in the right arm and hand and a contralateral facial deficit, suggestive of brainstem infarction. He recovered and celebrated even greater successes as a musician, although phases of major depression also interfered with his professional life. In the last, phase of his life, he experienced the consequences of generalized atherosclerosis and cerebral microangiopathy. It was a second cerebrovascular accident of the brainstem that caused his death, only 10 months after his last concert performance. Although his death occurred in Egypt, an autopsy was performed by Professor Ludwig Edinger and the results will be presented.

Classification of headache disorders.

Clinical diagnostic classifications are critical when clear biological markers are not available. Such is the case in many headache disorders and mental disorders. Also, it is crucial that the classification is widely accepted and utilized. A main goal of classification is to be a universal language for categorizing a disease or a set of disorders, establishing diagnostic criteria, and promoting unity in treatment. The International Headache Society published its first Classification of Headache Disorders in 1988 and its second edition in 2004. The first classification paved the way for a better understanding of the epidemiology, mechanisms, and treatment of headache disorders, and the second edition likely will magnify our knowledge. This article provides an overview of the classification system and outlines some of the major changes in the revised edition.

Chronic migraine and medication-overuse headache through the ages.

We set out to review early descriptions of chronic migraine and medication-overuse headache. The International Headache Society (IHS) recently gave criteria for chronic migraine and medication-overuse headache. Chronic migraine was absent from the 1988 IHS criteria. Peters and Horton described ergotamine-overuse headache in 1951. In the 1980s it was more fully appreciated that overuse of other acute headache medications could increase headache frequency. We reviewed published English-language papers and book chapters. Willis (1672), Oppenheim (1900), Collier (1922), Balyeat (1933), and von Storch (1937) all described chronic migraine. Lennox (1934), O'Sullivan (1936), Silfverskiold (1947), Graham (1955), Friedman (1955), and Lippman (1955) wrote about ergotamine-overuse headache. Graham (1955), Friedman (1955), Lippman (1955), and Horton and Peters (1963) outlined withdrawal protocols. Chronic migraine has been mentioned in the literature for centuries, while medication-overuse headache has been written about for decades. Graham, Friedman, and Lippman deserve credit for separately reporting the first ergotamine withdrawal programmes.

Headache and neurology.

The aim of this lecture is to analyse the position of headaches and especially of migraine within the body of neurological knowledge. Historical, clinical and pathophysiological data have been selected for discussion.