THURSDAY, April 17 (HealthDay News) -- Patients with severe
headache attacks that don't respond to medication can be helped
with deep brain stimulation (DBS), new research concludes.
The Mayo Clinic study describes the case of a 44-year-old man
who suffered more than 200 excruciating, right-sided headaches a
day, each lasting 60 to 90 seconds. The condition, called Short
lasting, Unilateral, Neuralgiform headache attacks with Conjuctival
injection and Tearing (SUNCT), began when the man was 14. His
headaches weren't relieved by medication and were so severe that he
was incapacitated for the past nine years.
During the first month after surgery to implant a DBS electrode
in his head, the man had an average of 45 attacks a day, and as few
as four on some days. At nine months after DBS, he averaged 33
attacks a day, and that dropped to about 25 attacks a day a year
after DBS.
"Our study conclusions indicate that ipsilateral hypothalamic
DBS may be a viable option for patients with medically intractable
SUNCT. It may result in significant reduction in frequency of
headaches, though it does not eliminate them," said researcher Dr.
Virgilio Gerald H. Evidente.
The study was presented Tuesday at the American Academy of
Neurology annual meeting in Chicago.
An Italian study published in 2005 described the first
successful use of hypothalamic DBS to treat a patient with
SUNCT.
More information
The U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
has more about
SUNCT headache.
