ABSTRACT

Objective:

There have been case reports suggesting relapses may cause headache in MS pa-tients. It has not been investigated if there is any relation between attack-related headache and involvement of functional systems in MS patients. The aim of the study was to evaluate if there was any correlation between functional system involvement in neurological examination and the presence and/or type of headache.

Patients and Methods:

Sixty-four MS patients who were in relapse period were evaluated for the study; 16/64 patients who had depression in their past medical history and/or had >8 score in Hamilton depression scale were excluded; 48 MS patients were included the study. The pa-tients were questioned about headache and were underwent a complete neurological exami-nation.

Results:

Seventeen (%35,4) of 48 MS described headache in both remission and relapse period. None of the patients described headache in only relapse period. Nine patients had tension type headache (%52,9), 7 patients had migraine (%41,2), and 1 patient had unclassified headache (%5,9). It was not found any relation between any functional system involvement and the pres-ence and/or types of headaches in MS attacks.

Conclusion:

Relapses triggers headache about 1/3 of MS patients. There is not relation be-tween attack-related headache and functional system involvement in neurologic examination.