New research indicates that migraines are fairly common among patients with sinus headache.

Symptoms in sinus area are frequently reported during migraine attacks, but are not considered in making a diagnosis, Dr. Mary S. Richardson, of GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, and colleagues report in the Archives of Internal Medicine. Under-diagnosis of migraine may be partly attributed to variability in the patient’s symptoms, and migraines with sinus symptoms may be part of the problem.

The researchers examined the rate of migraine-type headaches in 2991 patients who experienced sinus headaches in the past. Of these subjects, more than 80 percent met the diagnostic criteria for migraines.

The most common sinus symptoms reported by patients at screening were pressure, pain and nasal congestion.

Of the patients with migraine, 67 percent were dissatisfied with the medication they used to treat their sinus headaches.

“The results indicate that the presence of nasal or (eye) symptoms often considered to be features of ‘sinus’ headache should not automatically trigger a sinus diagnosis or exclude a diagnosis of migraine but should prompt assessment of the patients for migraine as well as sinus headache,” Richardson and colleagues write.

“Accurate diagnosis of headache is essential for patients to receive appropriate therapy and to achieve an optimal treatment outcome,” they conclude.

SOURCE: Archives of Internal Medicine, September 13, 2004.