Clin Physiol Funct Imaging.2013 Nov;33(6):409-17. doi: 10.1111/cpf.12042. Epub 2013 Apr 19.

Nitroglycerin-induced changes in facial skin temperature: 'cold nose' as a predictor of headache?

Website: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23701267

Zaproudina N1,Närhi M,Lipponen JA,Tarvainen MP,Karjalainen PA,Karhu J,Airaksinen O,Giniatullin R.

Author information

·  1Institute of Biomedicine, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland; Institute of Dentistry, University of Eastern Finland, Kuopio, Finland.

Abstract

Nitroglycerin (NTG) often induces headaches when used to treat cardiac diseases. Such property of NTG has been widely used in modelling of migraine-like headaches. However, background reasons, predisposing to the development of NTG-headache, are less studied. The main aim of our study was to find, using NTG model, easily accessible markers of the vascular changes associated with headache. Because changes in the blood flow alter the local skin temperature (Tsk), we studied the relationship between the regional changes in the facial Tsk and NTG-induced headaches. Tsk was measured withinfraredthermographyin 11 healthy women during 3h after sublingual NTG administration. NTG caused headache in five women, and four of them were the first-degree relatives of migraine patients. Notably, before NTG administration, subjects in the headache group had lower Tsk values, especially in the nose area, than women in thepain-free group (n=6). NTG-induced headache was associated with a long-lasting increase of Tsk over the baseline. In sharp contrast, in thepain-free group, the Tsk reduced and returned rapidly to the baseline. Thus, the low baseline level and greater increase of regional Tsk correlated with the incidence of headache that supports a role of greater vascular changes in headache happening on the basis of the dissimilarities in vascular tone. An easily accessible phenomenon of 'cold nose' may indicate background vascular dysfunctions in individuals with predisposition to headache. Facialinfraredthermography, coupled with NTG administration, suggests a novel temporally controlled approach for non-invasive investigation of vascular processes accompanying headaches.

© 2013 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

KEYWORDS:

facial;infraredthermography; microcirculation; migraine; vasodilation

PMID:

23701267

[PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]