Ricerc@Sapienza

Introduction: Migraine and combined hormonal contraceptives (CHCs) increase the risk of ischemic stroke in young women; however, the contribution of low-dose (<50 μg ethinylestradiol) CHCs to the risk of ischemic stroke in young women with migraine is not well defined. Areas covered: The authors performed a systematic review of observational studies indexed in PubMed and Scopus from inception to 22 May 2019, reporting the effect sizes of ischemic stroke in women with migraine using low-dose CHCs compared with those without migraine not using CHCs.

Background: Headache is one of the most common reason for medical consultation to emergency department (ED). The inappropriate use of ED for non-emergency conditions is a problem in terms of overcrowding of emergency facilities, unnecessary testing and treatment, increased medical costs, burden on medical service providers and weaker relationships between patient and primary care provider. The aim of this study was to analyze the different stages of ED management of headache to identify those deficiencies that can be overcome by a fast referral to a headache clinic.

Headache disorders have a strong impact on sufferers’ lives. However, the “content” of assessment instruments addressing concepts, such as disability and quality of life (QoL), has not comprehensively been addressed. We searched SCOPUS for research papers in which outcome measures were used in adult populations of patients with migraine, tension-type headache (TTH), and cluster headache (CH). The content of single instruments was then mapped against the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health.

Headache disorders are prevalent and disabling conditions impacting on people of all ages, including children and adolescents with substantial impact on their school activities and leisure time. Our study aims to report specific information on headaches in children and adolescents based on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) study, that provides estimates for incidence, prevalence, fatal and non-fatal outcomes. We relied on 2007 and 2017 GBD estimates for prevalence and Years Lived with Disability (YLDs) at the global level and in WHO regions.

‘Sinus headache and/or facial pain’ (SH) is a common complaint encountered by otorhi-nolaryngologists, neurologists and general practitioners. However, several studies suggested that the majority of those cases may be attributed to primary headaches (i.e., migraine and tension-type headache (TTH). The purpose of this review is to evaluate the etiology of SH. The first part in-cludes cross-sectional studies analyzing the prevalence of respective diagnoses in subjects with SH.

Migraine is a prevalent primary headache disorder and is usually considered as benign. However, structural and functional changes in the brain of individuals with migraine have been reported. High frequency of white matter abnormalities, silent infarct-like lesions, and volumetric changes in both gray and white matter in individuals with migraine compared to controls have been demonstrated. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies found altered connectivity in both the interictal and ictal phase of migraine.

Background: Headache is one of the most common complaints in children and adolescents and comorbidity rates are very high and the major associated diseases are depression, anxiety, atopic disorders, sleep, and behavioral disorders. In recent years, it has been highlighted that difficulties regulating emotions such as alexithymia have also been associated with diagnosis of somatization.

Mentalization, theory of mind (ToM) and metacognition are abilities that explain or predict behavior based on beliefs, intentions, or feelings attributed to the self or others, mental states and thoughts. Some studies have showed an impairment of these abilities in children and adolescents with several disorders, such as anxiety,

The quest toward a specific biomarker for migraine stands among the biggest challenges of the last 50 years. Electrophysiological techniques are particularly suitable to study the nervous system in human beings. They are noninvasive, riskless and quite easy to perform and have a temporal resolution that cannot be achieved with other methods.

The rhythmic oscillations embedded in the spontaneous or evoked electroencephalographic (EEG) activity are closely related to the subtle cognitive processes of the brain. This review is aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the studies investigating brain oscillations across various frequency ranges in migraine, using EEG and evoked potentials.