SPG Block for Severe Headache

Offentlig prosjektsammendrag

Cluster Headache and Chronic Migraine have an extremely high unmet clinical need and new treatments for these groups of patients are desperately needed. Chronic cluster headache is the most severe form of headache. These headaches can occur daily and can last up to 4 hours. It is termed suicide headache as patients often take their own lives due to the savage nature of the pain. A large number of patients suffering with these headaches do not respond to any currently available therapies. Chronic migraine is the 3rd most prevalent illness in the world and the 6th most disabling. Chronic Migraine attacks occur on at least 15 days per month and each attack can last up to 3 days. Patients who suffer the refractory chronic phenotype of this disease do not have any available treatments. It is known that many severe headaches such as Cluster Headache and Chronic Migraine involve nerve signals travelling through a small nerve bundle located deep in the face below the eye called the Sphenopalatine Ganglion, or SPG. Botulinum toxin delivered to the SPG, termed an SPG Block, can reduce these severe headaches and has been shown in pilot clinical studies to improve outcomes in these patients. To enable Botulinum Toxin to be used safely and accurately in these patients requires a novel drug delivery device and navigation system that enables the medication to be injected onto the SPG. We are developing a novel drug delivery device and neuronavigation system that will enable the precision delivery of botulinum toxin to the SPG in a quick and simple out patient procedure.