To determine the prevalence of headache in patients with primary Sjögren's syndrome (pSS) and to examine the relationship between headache types and clinical, serologic features of the disease.
The study enclosed 133 patients with the diagnoses of pSS and 97 healthy controls. A questionnaire designed to assess the presence of headache and if present to classify it according to the criteria of the International Headache Society was used.
In 133 of the pSS patients evaluated, 104 had headache. No association was present between types of headache and the clinical and laboratory manifestations of the disease. Both migraine and tension-type headache were more common in patients with pSS when compared with healthy controls (P < 0.001).
The high prevalence of migraine in pSS patients might be explained by a vascular headache triggered by immuno-mediated disease activity without an obvious clinic or laboratory marker.