Hypnic headache responsive to indomethacin: second Italian case

We report a case of hypnic headache (HH) fulfilling the criteria proposed by the revised IHS headache classification and rapidly responsive to indomethacin. The patient is a 70-year-old housewife who presented with a 7-year history of strictly nocturnal headache attacks. The headache occurred every night with a frequency of 1 to 2 attacks occurring between 03.00 and 04.00 a.m. Indomethacin was prescribed at a daily dose of 150 mg/day for 30 days and tapered down in 15 days. Pain did not occur thereafter and at follow up, nine months after discontinuation of the drug, the patient was still pain-free with no relapses. This is the second Italian HH patient responsive to indomethacin, indicating that indomethacin may be a useful alternative treatment in HH patients, and providing further evidence in favour of a common pathophysiological mechanism in HH and other indomethacin-responsive primary headaches.