Headache in patients with neck-shoulder-arm pain of cervical radicular origin

In a series of 81 patients with chronic cervicobrachialgia, 54 (67%) report ed that they also suffered from recurrent headache. Forty-four (81%) of the se patients were classified as having cervical headache, 5 as having migrai ne, 2 with tension-type headache, and 3 patients were not classifiable acco rding to the diagnostic system of the International Headache Society (IHS). Patients with headache presented significantly higher tenderness scores an d pain intensity in the neck-shoulder-arm region than patients without head aches, Twenty-three (52%) of the 34 patients with cervical headache reporte d that their headache had improved after treatments directed to,yards their cervicobrachialgia. The MS classification system of cervical headache is d iscussed.