Primary cough headache, primary exertional headache, and primary headache associated with sexual activity: a clinical and radiological study

Introduction The purposes of this study are to describe clinical features of primary cough headache, primary exertional headache, and primary headache associated with sexual activity and to evaluate potential association with abnormalities in the cerebral or cervical venous circulation. Methods This multicentre, observational, non-interventional consecutive cohort study included patients fulfilling ICHD-II criteria for primary cough headache ( N = 10), primary exertional headache ( N = 11), or primary headache associated with sexual activity ( N = 20), as well as 16 headache-free controls. Each patient was evaluated clinically and underwent craniocervical MRV of the cranial circulation. All scans were interpreted centrally by blinded raters, using the Farb criteria proposed for idiopathic intracranial hypertension. Stenosis was defined as a Farb score