CLUSTER HEADACHE IS AN AUTOSOMAL DOMINANTLY INHERITED DISORDER IN SOME FAMILIES - A COMPLEX SEGREGATION ANALYSIS

We investigated the mode of inheritance of cluster headache in 370 fam iles. The probands were from a neurological clinic in Jutland and two departments of neurology in Copenhagen County, Denmark. The criteria o f the International Headache Society were used. The patterns of segreg ation of cluster headache were assessed by complex segregation analysi s performed with the computer program POINTER. Of the 370 probands wit h cluster headache, 25 had 36 relatives with cluster headache. The seg regation analysis suggests that cluster headache has an autosomal domi nant gene (p<0.10) with a penetrance of 0.30-0.34 in males and 0.17-0. 21 in females. The gene is present in 3 to 4% of males and 7 to 10% of females with cluster headache. An autosomal dominant gene has a role in cluster headache in some families.