THE SYMPTOM OF HEADACHE IN EMERGENCY DEPARTMENTS - THE EXPERIENCE OF A NEUROLOGY EMERGENCY DEPARTMENT

Although the symptom of headache is a frequent cause of Emergency Depa rtment examinations, if is often considered to be of little clinical r elevance in comparison with other emergencies and is usually treated o nly symptomatically, But how frequently does a simple headache mask a severe cerebral pathology? To answer this question, we studied a conse cutive series of patients examined at the Neurology Emergency Departme nt of Turin's Ospedale Molinette over a period of three months; the pa tients were then followed-up for more than two years in order to confi rm the diagnoses, Of 215 cases of ''acute'' headache, 121 (56%) were e ssential and 94 (44%) symptomatic; of the latter 18 (8.3%) were the on ly clinical manifestation of a severe cerebral pathology (10 hemorrhag es, 2 ischemias, 6 tumours): diagnosing these 18 cases, 72 EEG, 57 CT and 4 rachicentesis examinations were carried out and their diagnostic efficacy is here analysed, Our data show the importance of a careful evaluation of the symptom of headache in Emergency Departments and the need to send any doubtful cases to a facility specialised in coping w ith such emergencies.