A probable cluster headache case from a textbook of 1726: Francisco Suárez de Rivera’s description

Abstract

Background: Few descriptions of cluster and cluster-like headache made before the 19th century have been reported. Case description: We present a previously unreported early description of a probable cluster headache case made by Francisco Suárez de Rivera (1686− c.1751), one of the main physicians of the Spanish Age of Enlightenment, writer of almost 40 textbooks about medicine, surgery, pharmacology, and therapeutics. Discussion: The depiction here reported of a woman with probable cluster headache is possibly one of the earliest known and, to our knowledge, the first in Hispanic literature. We also review other descriptions of cluster and cluster-like headache from the same time period.