Headache characteristics to screen for cervicocerebral artery dissection in patients with acute onset unusual headache

Yukishige Hashimoto; Toshinori Matsushige; Reo Kawano; Michitsura Yoshiyama; Takeshi Hara; Shohei Kobayashi; Chiaki Ono; Shigeyuki Sakamoto; Nobutaka Horie

doi:10.1111/head.14454

Headache characteristics to screen for cervicocerebral artery dissection in patients with acute onset unusual headache

Headache. 2023 Feb;63(2):283-289. doi: 10.1111/head.14454. Epub 2023 Feb 6.

Authors

Yukishige Hashimoto¹, Toshinori Matsushige¹, Reo Kawano², Michitsura Yoshiyama¹, Takeshi Hara¹, Shohei Kobayashi¹, Chiaki Ono³, Shigeyuki Sakamoto⁴, Nobutaka Horie⁴

Affiliations

¹ Department of Neurosurgery and Interventional Neuroradiology, Hiroshima City North Medical Center Asa Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
² Innovation Center for Translational Research, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu, Japan.
³ Department of Radiology, Hiroshima City North Medical Center Asa Citizens Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan.
⁴ Department of Neurosurgery Graduate School of Biomedical and Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, Hiroshima, Japan.

PMID: 36748124
DOI: 10.1111/head.14454

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this preplanned primary analysis was to investigate the clinical manifestations of headache to screen for CAD patients with acute onset headache only.

Background: Spontaneous cervicocerebral artery dissection (CAD) with acute onset headache is not rare in clinical practice; however, it is underdiagnosed. On the other hand, subsequent infarction or subarachnoid hemorrhage mainly occurs within 1 week of headache onset.

Methods: Between April 2017 and January 2022, we conducted a single-center, cross-sectional retrospective study on 197 consecutive referred patients from neurosurgical outpatient clinics with acute onset unusual headache (stronger or longer headache than usual). All patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging to screen for secondary headache and were diagnosed based on the diagnostic protocol. We examined patient background data and the following headache characteristics: distribution, condition at the onset of headache, accompanying vomiting or nausea, worsening headache, and analgesic effects against headache. These factors were analyzed to identify independent diagnostic predictors of CAD. In this study, the rate of missing data was 41% for improvement of headache by analgesia and multiple imputation by chained equations was performed.

Results: A total of 93 patients (46 men and 47 women; mean age: 48 years, range: 25-73 years) were diagnosed with CAD. Univariate logistic regression analysis showed CAD was associated with current smoking, systolic blood pressure >140 mmHg, unilateral headache, worsening headache, and no headache improvement by analgesia. Unilateral, worsening headache and no headache improvement by analgesia remained independent diagnostic predictors in multivariable logistic regression after multiple imputation. No headache improvement by analgesia had the highest sensitivity (86%), while worsening headache had the highest specificity (84%).

Conclusions: CAD needs to be considered in patients with unilateral, worsening headache and no headache improvement by analgesia.

Keywords: analgesia; cervicocerebral artery dissection; headache.

MeSH terms

Arteries
Cross-Sectional Studies
Female
Headache* / diagnosis
Headache* / epidemiology
Headache* / etiology
Humans
Male
Middle Aged
Retrospective Studies
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* / complications
Subarachnoid Hemorrhage* / diagnostic imaging