A CASE OF EPISODIC CLUSTER HEADACHE RESPONDING DRAMATICALLY TO LITHIUM CARBONATE

Abstract

We are reporting a case of episodic cluster headache in a 33 years old male which responded dramatically to a 6 weeks course of lithium carbonate at a dose of 600mg daily. The lithium blood level was maintained at 0.4 mmol/l and the attacks were completely aborted with 3 years remission afterwards. In the discussion we included a summary of the previous trials which proved the effectiveness of lithium carbonate in treating the 2 types of cluster headache (the episodic and the chronic types). We concluded that low serum level of lithium is effective in the prophylaxis of episodic cluster headache and that the duration of treatment can be guided by the duration of the previous cluster episodes. Key words: Cluster Headache, Lithium Carbonate.