Headache differential diagnosis

Headache Microchapters
Home
Patient Information
Overview
Historical Perspective
Classification
Pathophysiology
Causes
Differentiating Headache from other Diseases
Epidemiology and Demographics
Risk Factors
Natural History, Complications and Prognosis
Diagnosis
History and Symptoms
Physical Examination
Laboratory Findings
CT
MRI
Ultrasound
Other Imaging Findings
Other Diagnostic Studies
Treatment
Medical Therapy
Surgery
Primary Prevention
Secondary Prevention
Cost-Effectiveness of Therapy
Future or Investigational Therapies
Case Studies
Case #1
Headache differential diagnosis On the Web
Most recent articles
Most cited articles
Review articles
CME Programs
Powerpoint slides
Images
American Roentgen Ray Society Images of Headache differential diagnosis All Images X-rays Echo & Ultrasound CT Images MRI
Ongoing Trials at Clinical Trials.gov
US National Guidelines Clearinghouse
NICE Guidance
FDA on Headache differential diagnosis
CDC on Headache differential diagnosis
Headache differential diagnosis in the news
Blogs on Headache differential diagnosis
Directions to Hospitals Treating Headache
Risk calculators and risk factors for Headache differential diagnosis

Editor-In-Chief: C. Michael Gibson, M.S., M.D. [1] Associate Editor(s)-in-Chief: Sabeeh Islam, MBBS[2]

Disease	History and Physical Examination															PMHx	Diagnostic approach
	Unilateral	Bilateral	Throbbing character	Autonomic symptoms	Fever	Photophobia	Aphasia	LOC	Aura	Nause/vomiting	Rash	Neck stiffness	Vision changes	Facial tenderness	Neurologic deficits		Labs and CSF findings	CT/MRI	Gold standard test
Migraine	+	-	+	-	-	+	-	-	+	+	-	-	+	-	-	Trigger factors, family hx	-	-	Clinical assesment
Tension-type headache (TTH)	-	+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	stress, genetics	-	-	Clinical assesment
Cluster headache	+	-	-	+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	-	-	episodic history	-	-	Clinical assesment
Seizure	-	+	-	-	-	-	+/-	+	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	Hx of seizures	prolactin level	+/- mass lesion	EEG
Meningitis	-	+	-	-	+	+/-	+/-	-	-	+/-	+/-	+	-	-	+	Hx of fever, malaise	<math>\uparrow</math>WBC <math>\uparrow</math>Protein <math>\downarrow</math>glucose	+/-	CSF analysis
Encephalitis	-	+	+/-	-	+	+/-	+/-	-	-	-	+/-	+	-	-	+	Hx of fever, malaise	elevated WBC, low glucose	+	CSF PCR
Brain tumor	-	+	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	weight loss, fatigue	neuromarkers	+/- mass	MRI
Subdural hemorrhage	-/+	-/+	+/-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	Trauma, fall	Xanthochromia	+	CT w/o contrast
Subarachnoid hemorrhage	-/+	+	+/-	-	-	+/-	+/-	-	-	-	-	+/-	+/-	-	+/-	thunderclap headache	<math>\uparrow</math>opening pressure, xanthochromia	+	CT w/o contrast
Hypertensive encephalopathy	-	+	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	Hypertension	UA +/-	+/-	clinical assessment
CNS abscess	-/+	-/+	-	-	+	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	+/-	+/-	+/-	-	+/-	History of drug abuse, endocarditis, immunosupression	↑ leukocytes, ↓ glucose and ↑ protien	+	MRI
Conversion disorder	-/+	-/+	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	+/-	+/-	-	+/-	History of emotional stress	-	-	Diagnosis of exclusion
Multiple sclerosis	-/+	-/+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+	-	+/-	History of relapses and remissions	↑ CSF IgG levels (monoclonal bands)	+	MRI
Hemorrhagic stroke	-/+	-/+	+/-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	HTN	-	+	CT scan without contrast
Neurosyphilis	-/+	-/+	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	-	+/-	STIs	↑ Leukocytes and protein	+	CSF VDRL-specifc CSF FTA-Ab -sensitive
Wernicke’s encephalopathy	-	-/+	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	History of alcohal abuse	blood ethanol levels	+/-	Clinical assesment and lab findings
Drug toxicity	-	-/+	-	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	-	+/-	+/-	-	+/-	Medication hx	Drug levels	-	Drug screen test
Metabolic disturbances	-	-/+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	+/-	-	+/-	Underlying CKD, CLD	Hypoglycemia, hypo and hypernatremia, hypo and hyperkalemia	-	Cause dependent
NPH	-	-/+	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	+/-	-	-	OCP use, meds	-	+/-	CT and clinical
Sinusitis	-	-/+	-	-	+/-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	allergies, seasonal	leukocytosis	+	CT

References

Template:WikiDoc Sources