PRACTICAL APPARATIVE DIAGNOSIS OF MIGRAINE AND TENSION TYPE HEADACHE

In a group of 552 prospectively evaluated headache patients classified on the basis of the International Headache Society criteria the results of three different apparative tests were compared: a transcranial Doppler ultrasound method, a variant of the visual evoked potential and the exteroceptive suppression of temporalis muscle activity. The combined use of these tests revealed that migraine and chronic tension type headaches are distinct disorders and are not part of a single headache spectrum. The results in group 1.7 IHS were not different from the results in migraine without aura. Episodic tension type headaches or group 2.3 diagnoses however, do not seem to represent a homogeneous group of headache patients. The test results suggest a mitigated form of migraine or a prechronic form of chronic tension type headaches in the majority of these patients.