Extratrigeminal episodic paroxysmal hemicrania. Further clinical evidence of functionally relevant brain stem connections.

A woman, aged 59 years, developed a constant, left, occipital headache associated with episodes of discrete exacerbations occurring three to five times daily for 3 days, each lasting 15 to 20 minutes, and associated with left ptosis, conjunctival injection, and redness of the left ear. Pain-free remissions, which usually lasted 2 weeks, ceased after a mild neck injury, but the headaches responded promptly to indomethacin. This case, illustrating a transition from an occipital episodic to chronic paroxysmal hemicrania, is discussed as a variation of the trigeminal-autonomic cephalalgias.