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Query: UMLS:C0018681 (headache)
 56,091 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

We examined 52 railroad workers with long-term occupational solvent exposures (average 22 years duration) who had been previously diagnosed by others as having solvent-induced toxic encephalopathy. All described episodes of transient intoxication associated with occupational solvent exposure. Persistent symptoms developed, an average, 16 years after exposure onset and included impaired memory (38), altered mood (21), imbalance (18), and headache (17). Thirteen workers had mild mental status abnormalities, but none fulfilled conventional clinical criteria for encephalopathy or dementia. None had abnormal blink reflex (51) or abnormal electroencephalographic (39) studies. Eight of 47 magnetic resonance imaging studies showed evidence of scattered ischemic lesions among workers with known diabetes mellitus (2), elevated blood pressure (4), or peripheral vascular disease (2). One magnetic resonance imaging scan showed mild cortical atrophy. In stepwise multiple linear and logistic regression models, no statistically significant (P < 0.05) dose-response relationships were found between exposure duration and symptoms or signs that were suggestive of encephalopathy. However, the number of symptoms (P < 0.001) and the number of signs (P = 0.05) were associated with current use of central nervous system-active medications. Further, lower Mini-Mental Status Examination scores were associated with a history of alcohol abuse (P = 0.01) and lower educational level (P = 0.03). The number of chief symptoms involving memory, mood, balance, or headache differed significantly among workers in different geographic sites (F(3.48) = 2.94, P = 0.04), a finding that was not explained by job title or exposure duration. There also was a significant (P = 0.0001) inverse relationship between initial exposure year (r2 = 0.60) or total years of exposure through 1987 (r2 = 0.56) and interval to major neurologic symptom onset, suggesting that factors other than solvent exposure account in part for worker complaints. We found no objective neurologic evidence supportive of toxic encephalopathy or any other uniform syndrome among these individuals, and most complaints were explained by neuropsychological factors or conditions unrelated to occupational solvent exposure.
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PMID:Neurologic evaluation of workers previously diagnosed with solvent-induced toxic encephalopathy. 1202 83

Neurostimulation methods for control of chronic neuropathic pain have recently gained in popularity. The reasons for this are multifactorial. As opposed to nerve ablation, these methods are minimally invasive and reversible. The improvements in hardware design simplified implantation techniques and prolonged equipment longevity. Stimulation trials have become less invasive, allowing patients to test its effects before final implantation. Finally, the scientific evidence has shown good outcomes of neurostimulation methods for chronic neuropathic pain control. Recent research efforts have revealed new potential mechanisms of action of neurostimulation. Whereas its action was widely explained by gate control theory in the past, it seems that neuromodulation acts also by modulation of neurotransmitters in the central nervous system. Three neurostimulation methods are currently used in clinical practice: spinal cord stimulation (SCS), peripheral nerve stimulation (PNS), and deep brain stimulation (DBS). The SCS and PNS are excellent treatment choices for certain forms of neuropathic pain. The new indications for SCS are end-stage peripheral vascular disease and ischemic heart disease, whereas PNS is used for the treatment of occipital neuralgia and chronic pelvic pain. DBS is reserved for carefully selected patients in whom the other treatment modalities have failed. In a minority of patients the "tolerance" to neurostimulation develops after long-term use. Further research is needed to establish better outcome predictors to neurostimulation and possibly improve patient selection criteria.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2001 Apr
PMID:Stimulation methods for neuropathic pain control. 1125 47

Elevated blood pressure is a risk factor for a variety of cardiovascular disorders, including coronary heart disease, peripheral vascular disease, cardiac failure and cerebrovascular disease. The prevailing view is that an elevated systolic rather than diastolic blood pressure is the major contributor in mortality and morbidity attributed to cardiovascular disorders. Isolated high systolic blood pressure, especially in the elderly, is a major risk factor and should undoubtedly be a target for drug treatment. In the general population, systolic and diastolic blood pressure are highly correlated, and thus it is difficult to dissociate the effects of these two components of the blood pressure and specifically ascribe cardiovascular risk factors to just elevated systolic blood pressure. Therefore, the goal in therapy of an individual with hypertension must be to reduce elevated systolic and diastolic blood pressure in order to reduce mortality and morbidity. ACE and neutral peptidase inhibitors are a new class of drugs that may be beneficial in the treatment of patients with hypertension and heart failure. They may also be useful in the treatment of diabetic patients with hypertension and/or heart failure. Drugs of this class are dual inhibitors of ACE and neutral endopeptidase, and are capable of affecting vascular tone and fluid balance. They are capable of producing vasodilatation by virtue of inhibiting the production of angiotensin II, degradation of natriuretic peptides and bradykinin. They also appear to promote natriuresis and diuresis by amplifying the actions of natriuretic peptidase and reducing aldosterone effects. In addition, they should also attenuate trophogenic actions of the renin angiotensin system and the sympathetic nervous system. Omapatrilat is one drug that appears to be at the advanced stages of clinical development. This drug has been shown to be quite effective in the treatment of hypertension. Evidence also seems to indicate that treatment with omapatrilat results in a higher tendency towards preventing death and worsening heart failure when compared with treatment with a pure ACE inhibitor in patients with advanced heart failure. Overall safety with omapatrilat appears to be good, but like other ACE inhibitors the incidence of cough is higher when compared with placebo. Other common adverse effects noted are headaches, facial flushing/warm sensation, dizziness, nausea and dyspnoea. Of greater concern is the occurrence of angio-oedema, the true incidence of which remains to be fully established as part of the published medical literature.
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PMID:Dual ACE and neutral endopeptidase inhibitors: novel therapy for patients with cardiovascular disorders. 1501 94

The clinical management of cluster headache (CH) attacks requires a symptomatic treatment that is rapidly effective in resolving or significantly reducing symptoms. First-choice drugs for the symptomatic treatment of CH are subcutaneous sumatriptan at a dose of 6 mg and 100% oxygen inhalation at a rate of 7 l/min for no more than 15 min. Sumatriptan acts by suppressing pain and the accompanying autonomic phenomena, with no substantial differences in its mechanism of action between episodic and chronic CH. The drug can be used for prolonged periods without loss of efficacy or safety and its side-effects are generally mild or moderate. Oxygen inhalation has a number of advantages over drug therapy: it is free from side-effects, has no contraindications--unlike sumatriptan, it can be used in patients with cardiac, cerebral or peripheral vascular disease and with kidney, liver or lung disease--acts rapidly and can be administered several times a day. Its disadvantages are that it is scarcely practical and may induce a "rebound effect". Sumatriptan nasal spray, zolmitriptan and dihydroergotamine nasal spray are scarcely effective. After the introduction of sumatriptan, ergotamine tartrate has been relegated to a secondary role in the symptomatic treatment of CH. Among other non-drug and topical drug treatment options, hyperbaric oxygen therapy and the intranasal application of 10% cocaine hydrochloride and 10% lidocaine in the sphenopalatine fossa have also proved effective.
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PMID:Cluster headache: symptomatic treatment. 1554 18

Caudal block with a local anesthetic through the hiatus sacralis has been performed in patients with chronic low back pain, lower limb pain, anal pain, and pelvic pain due to spinal canal stenosis, lumbar disc herniation, lumbar spondylolisthesis, postherpetic neuralgia, peripheral vascular disease, complex regional pain syndrome and so on. We prepar- ed an information and consent sheet on caudal block in The University of Tokyo Hospital. In the information sheet, we included disease, purpose, methods, outcome, accidental complications of caudal block, other treatments, progress on unperformed case, questions and answers, influence of rejection, and doctor's name. We experienced some cases of boring pain, deterioration of low back pain and lower limb pain, headache, nausea, hypertension, hypotension, and tachycardia as accidental complications of caudal block. In describing some accidental complications, we included boring pain, high intracranial pressure, dural puncture, nerve injury, infection, hemorrhage, embolism, allergy, and heart, lung, brain, liver, and kidney failures. Further, we could refer to the accidental complications of epidural block. However, the rate of each accidental complication has not been known in detail. We should survey the outcome and accidental complication of caudal block prospectively in multiple facilities and provide the patients with useful information.
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PMID:[Information and consent sheet of caudal block in the University of Tokyo Hospital]. 1678 90

Spinal cord stimulation has been shown to be an effective and well-established treatment for failed back surgery syndrome, complex regional pain syndrome, and other neuropathic pain states. Recent advances in this therapy have led to its use in enhancing blood flow and reducing ischemic pain patterns. The application of spinal cord stimulation to treat angina and improve outcomes in patients suffering from peripheral vascular disease is now becoming a part of the algorithmic standard of care. This article examines the selection of patients, application of the therapy, outcomes, and future uses of stimulation for patients afflicted with these diseases. This article also examines possible study protocols to further examine the overall outcome of these therapies.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2009 Feb
PMID:Spinal cord stimulation for the treatment of angina and peripheral vascular disease. 1912 66

Systemic sclerosis is a multisystem autoimmune collagen disease where structural and functional abnormalities of small blood vessels prevail. Transient ischemic attacks, ischemic stroke, and hemorrhage have been reported as primary consequence of vascular central nervous system affection in systemic sclerosis. Magnetic resonance imaging is considered to be the most sensitive diagnostic technique for detecting symptomatic and asymptomatic lesions in the brain in cases of multifocal diseases. The objective of this study is to detect subclinical as well as clinically manifest cerebral vasculopathy in patients with systemic sclerosis using magnetic resonance imaging. As much as 30 female patients with systemic sclerosis aged 27-61 years old, with disease duration of 1-9 years and with no history of other systemic disease or cerebrovascular accidents, were enrolled. Age-matched female control group of 30 clinically normal subjects, underwent brain magnetic resonance examination. Central nervous system (CNS) involvement in the form of white matter hyperintense foci of variable sizes were found in significantly abundant forms in systemic sclerosis patients on magnetic resonance evaluation than in age-related control group, signifying a form of CNS vasculopathy. Such foci showed significant correlation to clinical features of organic CNS lesion including headaches, fainting attacks and organic depression as well as to the severity of peripheral vascular disease with insignificant correlation with disease duration. In conclusion, subclinical as well as clinically manifest CNS ischemic vasculopathy is not uncommon in systemic sclerosis patients and magnetic resonance imaging is considered a sensitive noninvasive screening tool for early detection of CNS involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis.
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PMID:Brain MRI screening showing evidences of early central nervous system involvement in patients with systemic sclerosis. 2006 32

A 48-year-old man with a history of hypertension, peripheral vascular disease and a 50-pack-year history of smoking presented with new onset vertigo, tinnitus, diplopia and ataxia in January 1978. CT scan showed a radiolucent defect in the left cerebellar hemisphere with a possible mural nodule. In ensuing months, he experienced worsening symptoms with a corresponding increase in lesion size on re-imaging. Months later, a left posterior fossa craniotomy was performed and revealed a single cystic lesion containing copious amounts of straw-colored fluid and a single mural nodule in the inferior portion of the cyst. Following resection, he was followed clinically until 1985 at which time follow-up was discontinued. He did well until January 1993 when he presented with progressively worsening episodic headaches and retro-orbital pressure. Subsequent MRIs of the brain and spine (February 1993, March 1993) showed multiple lesions along the neuraxis involving the superficial brain parenchyma, leptomeninges, and dura. Despite therapy, his condition progressively declined until he succumbed. A brain-only autopsy revealed numerous small tumor nodules involving the base of the brain over both frontal and temporal lobes, midbrain, pons, right optic nerve, pituitary fossa, and the base of the skull. Pathologic evaluation revealed metastatic hemangioblastoma. Metastatic hemangioblastoma is a rare entity, with only a few reported cases in the literature to date.
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PMID:Man with posterior fossa tumors 15 years apart. 2215 Sep 27

Evidence is emerging that migraine is not solely a headache disorder. Observations that ischemic stroke could occur in the setting of a migraine attack, and that migraine headaches could be precipitated by cerebral ischemia, initially highlighted a possibly association between migraine and cerebrovascular disease. More recently, large population-based studies that have demonstrated that migraineurs are at increased risk of stroke outside the setting of a migraine attack have prompted the concept that migraine and cerebrovascular disease are comorbid conditions. Explanations for this association are numerous and widely debated, particularly as the comorbid association does not appear to be confined to the cerebral circulation as cardiovascular and peripheral vascular disease also appear to be comorbid with migraine. A growing body of evidence has also suggested that migraineurs are more likely to be obese, hypertensive, hyperlipidemic and have impaired insulin sensitivity, all features of the metabolic syndrome. The comorbid association between migraine and cerebrovascular disease may consequently be explained by migraineurs having the metabolic syndrome and consequently being at increased risk of cerebrovascular disease. This review will summarise the salient evidence suggesting a comorbid association between migraine, cerebrovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome.
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PMID:Migraine, cerebrovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome. 2302 68

Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is becoming a widely used treatment for a number of pain conditions and is frequently considered as a pain management option when conservative or less invasive techniques have proven to be ineffective. Potential indications for SCS include complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), postherpetic neuralgia, traumatic nerve injury, failed back surgery syndrome, refractory angina pectoris, peripheral vascular disease, neuropathic pain, and visceral pain (Guttman et al. Pain Pract. 9:308-11, 2009). While research on SCS is in its infancy, it is clear that substantial variation exists in the degree of benefit obtained from SCS, and the procedure does not come without risks; thus focused patient selection is becoming very important. Psychological characteristics play an important role in shaping individual differences in the pain experience and may influence responses to SCS, as well as a variety of other pain treatments (Doleys Neurosurg Focus 21:E1, 2006). In addition to psychological assessment, quantitative sensory testing (QST) procedures offer another valuable resource in forecasting who may benefit most from SCS and may also shed light on mechanisms underlying the individual characteristics promoting the effectiveness of such procedures (Eisenberg et al. Pain Pract. 6:161-165, 2006). Here, we present a brief overview of recent studies examining these factors in their relationship with SCS outcomes.
Curr Pain Headache Rep 2013 Jan
PMID:Psychological screening/phenotyping as predictors for spinal cord stimulation. 2324 6


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