Cluster Headache And Other Short-Lasting Headaches

Rare though it may be, cluster headache needs to be correctly diagnosed and specifically treated because it is the most painful of all primary headaches. An important reason why cluster headache and other recently described short-lasting headache syndromes that are now grouped together as trigeminal-autonomic cephalgias (TACs) continue to be suboptimally managed is because they often go unrecognised or are wrongly diagnosed as migraine. This article discusses the salient clinical features of cluster headache, the recent hypotheses regarding its pathophysiology, and the treatment options available to control it.