Field testing the diagnostic criteria of cluster headache in the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders: A cross-sectional multicentre study.

BACKGROUND

*These authors are shared first authors. The recently published third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3) revised the criteria for accompanying symptoms of cluster headache (CH) and the remission period of chronic cluster headache (CCH). This study aimed at testing the validity of the ICHD-3 criteria for CH by using data from the Korean Cluster Headache Registry.

METHODS

Consecutive patients with CH and probable cluster headache (PCH) were prospectively recruited from 15 hospitals. We analysed the validity of the revised ICHD-3 criteria for CH against the beta version of the third edition of the ICHD (ICHD-3β).

RESULTS

In total, 193 patients were enrolled: 140 (72.5%), 5 (2.6%) and 22 (11.4%) had episodic cluster headache (ECH), CCH, and PCH, respectively. The remaining 26 (13.5%) had CH with undetermined remission periods. One patient with ECH and one with PCH had only forehead and facial flushing and were diagnosed with PCH and non-cluster headache, respectively, according to the ICHD-3. Four participants with ECH according to the ICHD-3β had remission periods of > 1 month and between 1 and 3 months and were newly diagnosed with CCH according to the ICHD-3.

CONCLUSION

The change from ICHD-3β to ICHD-3 resulted in few differences in the diagnoses of CH and PCH.