A review of the latest and most relevant information on different disorders of head and facial pain is presented. News from epidemiologic studies regarding the relationship between migraine and patent foramen ovale, the cardiovascular risk in migraine, and migraine behavior during menopause, and the development of white matter lesions or migraine genetics are presented. Regarding pathophysiology there are very recent insights regarding the role of the hypothalamus during prodromal phase and the interplay of brain-stem and hypothalamus during the attack. In the last year studies and metaanalysis generated new knowledge for the use of triptans in general as in menstrual related migraine and hemiplegic variants. Furthermore, new hope rises for the CGRP (calcitonin-gene related peptide)-antagonists, as the data for ubrogepant do not suggest hepatotoxicity but efficacy. In prophylactic migraine treatment the news are manly on how the new therapeutic approach with monoclonal antibodies against CGRP or its receptor is moving on. Additional newly generated data for already known prophylactic agents as for new approaches are compactly discussed. Although main developments in headache focus on migraine new data on trigemino-autonomic headache trigeminal neuralgia and new daily persistant headache became available.
Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York.