SynthesisNeurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology2019
Systematic literature review on the delays in the diagnosis and misdiagnosis of cluster headache.
Synthesis in Neurological sciences : official journal of the Italian Neurological Society and of the Italian Society of Clinical Neurophysiology, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 46 citations in OpenAlex.
- Cluster headache diagnostic delay and its predictors: a systematic review with a meta-analysis.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Pooled it
- Evaluating the Phenotypic Patterns of Post-Traumatic Headache: A Systematic Review of Military Personnel.Military medicine · 2025Pooled it
- A brief diagnostic screen for cluster headache: Creation and initial validation of the Erwin Test for Cluster Headache.Cephalalgia : an international journal of headache · 2021Pooled it
- Delayed diagnosis of cluster headache in Portugal.Arquivos de neuro-psiquiatria · 2026Article
- Review
- Article
- Diagnostic delay, lateralisation and changing demographics in a belgian monocentric cluster headache cohort: a retrospective study.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2026Article
- Non-Invasive Vagus Nerve Stimulation in Cluster Headache: A Clinical Practice Guideline.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Review
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 3 - cluster headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Headache Phenotype and the Psychosocial Burden of Cluster Headaches: An Analysis of Patients Prior to Hospitalization.Pain and therapy · 2025Article
- Efficacy of single-dose galcanezumab 240 mg on episodic or refractory chronic cluster headache: prospective, 4-week, real-world evidence from the GRASP study group.Frontiers in neurology · 2025Article
- Cluster headache: an update on clinical features, epidemiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Testing the Decision Support Tool for Responsible Pain Management for Headache and Facial Pain Diagnosis with Opioid-Risk-Stratified Treatment.SN comprehensive clinical medicine · 2023Article
- Cluster headache: state of the art in treatment.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Cluster headache in adults.Australian prescriber · 2022Review
- Diagnostic Delay and Its Predictors in Cluster Headache.Frontiers in neurology · 2022Article
- Phenotype of Cluster Headache: Clinical Variability, Persisting Pain Between Attacks, and Comorbidities-An Observational Cohort Study in 825 Patients.Pain and therapy · 2021Article
- 'A cry in the dark': a qualitative exploration of living with cluster headache.British journal of pain · 2021Article
- Enlarging the spectrum of cluster headache: Extracranial autonomic involvement revealed by voice analysis.Headache · 2021Article
- Perceptions, experiences, and understandings of cluster headache among GPs and neurologists: a qualitative study.The British journal of general practice : the journal of the Royal College of General Practitioners · 2020Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionPatients with cluster headache (CH), the most common trigeminal autonomic cephalalgia, often face delayed diagnosis, misdiagnosis and mismanagement.
objectivesTo identify, appraise and synthesise clinical studies on the delays in diagnosis and misdiagnosis of CH in order to determine its causes and help the management of this condition.
methodsThe systematic review was prepared, conducted and reported in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. It was registered with International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews. A systematic search of different electronic databases (Medline, EMBASE, PsycINFO, PubMed, CINAHL, BNI, HMIC, AMED, HBE and Cochrane Library) was carried out in May 2017. Reference lists of relevant articles were hand searched.
resultsThe search identified 201 unique studies. Fifteen studies met the inclusion criteria of which 13 case series studies and two survey studies. Nine studies assessed the delays in diagnosis and misdiagnosis of CH, five studies the delays in diagnosis and one study the misdiagnosis of CH. The studies included 4661 patients. Delays in diagnosis, misdiagnosis and mismanagement have been reported in many European countries, Japan and in the USA with well-developed health services. The patients with CH often visited many different clinicians, surgeons and dentists and received multiple diagnosis prior to being correctly diagnosed.
conclusionThis systematic review shows that the delays in the diagnosis of CH are a widespread problem, the time to diagnosis still vary from country to country and both patients and physicians are responsible for the delays in diagnosis.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.