Pressure pain sensitivity map of multifocal nummular headache: a case report

• Published in: Journal of headache and pain Vol. 16; no. 1; p. 523
• Main Authors: Rodríguez, Cristina, Herrero-Velázquez, Sonia, Ruiz, Marina, Barón, Johanna, Carreres, Alicia, Rodríguez-Valencia, Edert, Guerrero, Angel Luis, Madeleine, Pascal, Cuadrado, María Luz, Fernández-de-las-Peñas, César
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Milan Springer Milan 30.04.2015; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Adolescent; Amines - therapeutic use; Analgesics - therapeutic use; Case Report; Cyclohexanecarboxylic Acids - therapeutic use; Drug therapy; Female; gamma-Aminobutyric Acid - therapeutic use; Headache - diagnosis; Headache - drug therapy; Headache - physiopathology; Headaches; Humans; Hyperalgesia - diagnosis; Hyperalgesia - drug therapy; Hyperalgesia - physiopathology; Internal Medicine; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Neurologic Examination; Neurology; Pain Medicine; Pain Threshold - physiology; Pressure; Teenagers; Treatment Outcome; Multifocal; Nummular headache; Algometry; Gabapentin; Pressure pain thresholds
• DOI: 10.1186/s10194-015-0523-7
• ISSN: 1129-2369

Background Nummular headache (NH) is most commonly a localized unifocal headache; however, some patients infrequently exhibit multifocal symptomatic painful head areas retaining all features of NH. We present the pressure pain sensitivity map of an adolescent with multifocal NH. Case presentation We describe a case of a 14 year-old-girl with a 3-year history of continuous pain in four rounded areas, all of them with the same size and shape. Pressure pain thresholds (PPT) were assessed on 21 points over the scalp and over the symptomatic areas. A pressure pain sensitivity map of the head was constructed. The neurological exam was unremarkable, with neither sensory symptoms nor trophic changes within the painful areas. As previously shown, symptomatic points exhibited lower PPTs compared to the surrounding areas. The map reflected 4 restricted areas of mechanical hyperalgesia confined just to the painful areas. Treatment with gabapentin achieved complete remission. Conclusion This is the first pain sensitivity map of a patient with multifocal NH. Our results support peripheral mechanisms are maintained in multifocal NH.