Inheritance of cluster headache and its possible link to migraine

We evaluated the possibility that cluster headache may be a transmitted disorder, influenced by migraine genetics. In the first part of a two part study, 24 female cluster headache probands having at least one first degree relative with cluster headache were evaluated for familial histories of cluster and migraine headache. Headache histories of most parents, siblings and children were satisfactorily documented by either direct interview or by information provided by knowledgeable relatives. In approximately a third of relatives, the headache history could not be properly ascertained. The second part of the study evaluated occurrence rates of cluster and migraine headaches among first degree relatives of 200 female and 100 male cluster headache patients, and the proportion of affected relatives. These data were compared to those of 200 women and 100 men with migraine headache; family history data were, for the most part, provided by headache patients. Twenty-four of two hundred cluster headache women (12%) had at least one first degree relative with cluster headache. Three generations of cluster headache were found in 7/24 kindreds (29.17%). Parental cluster headache was found in 19 of the 24 probands (79.17%); in 14/19 (73.68%), transmission was from father to proband. fifty percent of cluster probands also had migraine headaches, and almost 50% had a family history of migraine. Similarly, of the larger population of 300 cluster patients, approximately 45% had a positive family history of migraine. f 1652 relatives of all cluster patients, 3.45% had cluster headache (thirteen times the expected frequency of cluster headache in the general population) and 17.55% had migraine headaches.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)