SUNCT syndrome is characterized by short-lasting, unilateral, neuralgiform headache attacks, with conjuntival injec-tion and tearing. Distinct from trigeminal neuralgia, cluster headache, or paroxysmal hemicrania, this rare syndrome is SUNCT syndrome is characterized by short-lasting, unilateral, neuralgiform headache attacks, with conjuntival injec-tion and tearing. Distinct from trigeminal neuralgia, cluster headache, or paroxysmal hemicrania, this rare syndrome is generally refractory to various medications. We report a 63-year-old man diagnosed with SUNCT syndrome, whose symptoms were relieved by verapamil. The therapeutic effects of verapamil on SUNCT syndrome remain to be verified by further experiences. (J Korean Neurol Assoc 19(4):407~409, 2001)
Cluster Headache ; Headache ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Paroxysmal Hemicrania ; SUNCT Syndrome* ; Trigeminal Neuralgia ; Verapamil

SUNCT syndrome is a headache syndrome characterized by short-lasting(usually 15-120 sec), unilateral head paroxysms localized in the peri-ocular area, accompanied by conjunctival injection, lacrimation, nasal stuffiness, rhinorrhea, and subclinical forehead sweating, all on the symptomatic side. We experienced a new SUNCT syndrome case. 57-year-old patient had been suffering from right orbital pain attacks since he was 54. The pain, of an ""electrical"" or ""burning"" character, was moderate to severe in intensity. Single attacks lasted for 30-60 seconds each and were accompanied by prominent ipsilateral conjunctival injection and tearing as well as slight rhinorrhea. His symptoms were relieved by carbamazepine. Carbamazepine treatment seemingly brought about marked decrease in the frequency and severity of attacks. This case may be the first reported SUNCT syndrome case in Korea. Furthermore this case may shed light on the nosologic point view of SUNCT syndrome. The suspected pathophysiology of trigeminal neuralgia is expansion of the low threshold portions of the receptive fields owing to loss of surround inhibition. Carbamazepine facilitate afferent inhibition and depress excitatory transmission in the trigeminal nucleus. So the effectiveness to carbamazepine has been considered as one of diagnostic criteria of trigeminal neuralgia. Through the survey of previous reported cases including our case, it is suspected that SUNCT syndrome be closer to trigeminal neuralgia rather than cluster headache. We discussed several viewpoints for the nosologic aspect of SUNCT syndrome in this report.
Carbamazepine* ; Cluster Headache ; Forehead ; Head ; Headache Disorders ; Humans ; Korea ; Middle Aged ; Orbit ; SUNCT Syndrome* ; Sweat ; Sweating ; Trigeminal Neuralgia ; Trigeminal Nuclei