A pain in the eye

Karen R Armbrust; Gregory S Kosmorsky; Michael S Lee; Deborah I Friedman

doi:10.1016/j.survophthal.2013.10.006

A pain in the eye

Surv Ophthalmol. 2014 Jul-Aug;59(4):474-7. doi: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2013.10.006. Epub 2013 Oct 21.

Authors

Karen R Armbrust¹, Gregory S Kosmorsky², Michael S Lee³, Deborah I Friedman⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota.
² Cole Eye Institute, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, Ohio.
³ Department of Ophthalmology and Visual Neurosciences, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Department of Neurology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota; Department of Neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota. Electronic address: [email protected].
⁴ Department of Neurology & Neurotherapeutics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas; Department of Ophthalmology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas.

PMID: 24837852
DOI: 10.1016/j.survophthal.2013.10.006

Abstract

A 38-year-old woman presented with chronic left retro-orbital pain and photophobia. Palpation of the left occipital prominence revealed tenderness in the area of the greater occipital nerve and reproduced the eye pain. The diagnosis of cervicogenic headache was confirmed by symptom resolution following left greater occipital nerve blockade. The functional association between the greater occipital nerve and the trigeminal nerve provides a potential mechanism for this case of cervicogenic eye pain.

Keywords: cervicogenic headache; eye pain; greater occipital nerve; headache; occipital nerve; trigeminal nerve.

Publication types

Case Reports
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

Adult
Autonomic Nerve Block
Cranial Nerve Diseases / diagnosis
Eye Pain / diagnosis*
Female
Humans
Ophthalmologic Surgical Procedures
Optic Nerve / surgery
Photophobia / diagnosis*
Post-Traumatic Headache / diagnosis*
Trigeminal Nerve Diseases / diagnosis