Book Review

Comprehensive Review of Headache Medicine

N Engl J Med 2008; 359:1741-1742October 16, 2008

Article

Comprehensive Review of Headache Medicine
Edited by Morris Levin. 322 pp., illustrated. New York, Oxford University Press, 2008. $44.95. ISBN: 978-0-19-536673-0

Headache, one of the most common disorders, is a considerable burden to the individual and to society. The word “comprehensive” in the title of this book may put off some readers, but the book is easy to read and covers all the main topics in headache medicine.

The book is divided into five parts and has a total of 18 chapters. Several chapters seem to be influenced by the fact that all of the book's 14 contributing authors are from the United States, and most of the research they report was conducted in North America. The chapters in part 1 cover the anatomy and physiology of head pain, headache epidemiology, and current concepts of headache pathophysiology. These chapters are readable and not overloaded with details. The chapters in parts 2 and 3 concern the diagnosis of primary and secondary headaches. They systematically review all the main aspects of the current International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II, 2004), thereby ensuring that most of the 200 different headache diagnoses are described, albeit some very briefly. Parts 4 and 5 deal with headache treatment, and the chapters on abortive and preventive treatment are balanced and of practical use for readers outside North America. There is updated information about antagonists of calcitonin gene-related peptide, headache in renal disease, and headache treatment during pregnancy and lactation.

Review questions at the end of each chapter make the book useful for self-study. The editor has kept each chapter to a suitable length, and the chapters can be read in any order. Repetition has mostly been avoided, although the diagnostic criteria for primary stabbing headache are listed twice. The book does not include a traditional reference list, which seems to improve readability. Lists of suggested further reading materials are available at the end of each chapter, and a comprehensive index is included at the end of the book.

There are a couple of minor points to criticize. First, some of the anatomical figures could have been in color for better legibility. Second, a chapter discussing how to obtain a headache history and perform a targeted physical examination could have been included.

This book was initiated by the Headache Cooperative of New England, originally as a study resource for certification in the subspecialty of headache medicine, but it deserves a wider circle of readers. It compares favorably with most books on headache that have become available in recent years.

Knut Hagen, M.D., Ph.D.
Norwegian National Headache Center, 7006 Trondheim, Norway
knut.hagen@ntnu.no