Intercritical photophobia in the migrainous patient. Proposal for diagnostic criteria.

Introduction: Photophobia is a symptom of abnormal light intolerance without pain sensation that requires an anamnesis and an examination to diagnose an underlying etiology.

Basic Procedure: This article focuses on 30 clinical cases with isolated intense photophobia and on the review of the literature.

Objective: The purpose of this article is to establish diagnostic criteria for photophobia.

Results: The etiology of photophobia appears to be at the level of the intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells known as melanopsin cells and at a neurochemical level mediated by calcitonin-related peptide and the pituitary activating peptide cyclase.

Conclusion: The treatment of photophobia could consist of monoclonal antibodies against calcitonin-related peptide and/or pituitary activating peptide cyclase.