Photophobia and allodynia in persistent post-traumatic headache are associated with higher disease burden.

Objective: To assess photophobia and allodynia in subjects with post-traumatic headache and examine how these sensory hypersensitivities associate with clinical measures of disease burden.

Background: Post-traumatic headache is the most frequent and disabling long-term consequence of mild traumatic brain injury. There is evidence of sensory dysfunction in acute post-traumatic headache, and it is known from other headache conditions that sensory amplifications correlate with more severe disease.

Low-frequency facial hemodynamic oscillations distinguish migraineurs from non-headache controls.

Background: Surface imaging is a promising, noninvasive approach to assess regional perfusion in craniovascular disorders such as migraine.

Methods: We used optical imaging to examine differences in facial blood volume at baseline and in response to ammonia inhalation (a noxious stimulus), as well as standardized measures of cardiovascular autonomic function, in healthy, non-headache controls ( = 43) and in interictal migraine subjects ( = 22).

Results: Resting facial cutaneous oscillation (FCO) frequency was significantly different in migraine compared to healthy controls.

Quantitative assessment of autonomic symptom burden in Postural tachycardia syndrome (POTS).

Postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS) is a poorly understood disorder characterized by excessive tachycardia in the upright position. In addition, patients with PoTS often complain of non-postural symptoms, including fatigue, gastrointestinal and vasomotor fluctuations. The present study quantitatively assessed autonomic symptom burden in PoTS patients (n=32) using the COMPASS-31, compared to that of autonomic failure/neuropathy (AF/N; n=47) and asymptomatic, healthy controls (n=32).

Altered pupillary light response scales with disease severity in migrainous photophobia.

Background Autonomic dysfunction and light sensitivity are core features of the migraine attack. Growing evidence also suggests changes in these parameters between attacks. Though sensory and autonomic responses likely interact, they have not been studied together across the spectrum of disease in migraine.