ReviewNature reviews. Neurology2021
Cluster headache pathophysiology - insights from current and emerging treatments.
Review in Nature reviews. Neurology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 60 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
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
60 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 104 citations in OpenAlex.
- Stereotactic radiosurgery in the management of cluster headache: evidence from a systematic review and meta-analysis.Neurosurgical review · 2026Pooled it
- Four Decades of Occipital Nerve Stimulation for Headache Disorders: A Systematic Review.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Pooled it
- Cluster Headache Genomewide Association Study and Meta-Analysis Identifies Eight Loci and Implicates Smoking as Causal Risk Factor.Annals of neurology · 2023Pooled it
- Cytokines in primary headache disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The journal of headache and pain · 2023Pooled it
- Using natural language processing to automatically classify written self-reported narratives by patients with migraine or cluster headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2022Trial
- De Novo Chronic Cluster Headache Following Occupational Inhalational Exposure to Nitric Acid and Nitrogen Oxides: A Case Report.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Tear Fluid Calcitonin Gene-Related Peptide Levels Are Elevated in Glycerol Trinitrate-Induced Cluster Headache Attacks: Results From an Exploratory Study.European journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Exploratory Ising model network analysis of cluster headache: mapping conditional associations across symptoms, triggers, and pain localization.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Neck musculoskeletal dysfunction in patients with chronic primary headaches.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Bridging the gap: molecular mechanisms, regional activity and connectivity in headache disorders.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2026Review
- Abnormal imaging features of episodic cluster headache and episodic migraine: a multimodal 7T MRI study.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Multimodal MRI of episodic cluster headache reveals frontal cortical alterations and network-level connectivity changes.The journal of headache and pain · 2026Article
- Autonomic dysfunction in patients with episodic cluster headache during remission period.Acta neurologica Belgica · 2026Article
- Extremely low dose norepinephrine in treatment of refractory chronic cluster headache: two case reports and literature review.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2026Article
- Hallmarks of primary headache: part 3 - cluster headache.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Review
- Neural bridging achieves transcutaneous regulation of vagus nerve function and treatment of depressive disorders.Neurotherapeutics : the journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics · 2025Article
- Assessment of hypothalamic macrostructure in episodic cluster headache: a volumetric segmentation MRI study.La Radiologia medica · 2025Article
- Headache in Patients With Non-Thrombotic Internal Jugular Vein Stenosis: Clinical Characteristics and Associated Risk Factors in a Retrospective Study of 283 Cases.CNS neuroscience & therapeutics · 2025Article
- 15. Cluster Headache.Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Review
- Ergotamine enhances circadian amplitude and diurnally mitigates nitroglycerin-induced mechanical hypersensitivity.The journal of headache and pain · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Cluster headache is a debilitating primary headache disorder that affects approximately 0.1% of the population worldwide. Cluster headache attacks involve severe unilateral pain in the trigeminal distribution together with ipsilateral cranial autonomic features and a sense of agitation. Acute treatments are available and are effective in just over half of the patients. Until recently, preventive medications were borrowed from non-headache indications, so management of cluster headache is challenging. However, as our understanding of cluster headache pathophysiology has evolved on the basis of key bench and neuroimaging studies, crucial neuropeptides and brain structures have been identified as emerging treatment targets. In this Review, we provide an overview of what is known about the pathophysiology of cluster headache and discuss the existing treatment options and their mechanisms of action. Existing acute treatments include triptans and high-flow oxygen, interim treatment options include corticosteroids in oral form or for greater occipital nerve block, and preventive treatments include verapamil, lithium, melatonin and topiramate. We also consider emerging treatment options, including calcitonin gene-related peptide antibodies, non-invasive vagus nerve stimulation, sphenopalatine ganglion stimulation and somatostatin receptor agonists, discuss how evidence from trials of these emerging treatments provides insights into the pathophysiology of cluster headache and highlight areas for future research.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
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.