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

Horton giant cell arteritis can present with an atypical clinical picture that often resembles other diseases. In the case described below, the patient initially demonstrated clinical and laboratory evidence of a Candida albicans sepsis, and therefore we started antimycotic treatment with amphotericin B. Because of an adverse reaction to that drug, we added parenteral steroids before every administration of the antimycotic which led to an unexpected improvement of symptoms. This result caused us to reconsider some clinical aspects that could have been interpreted also as vasculitis, in particular for a giant cell arteritis: throbbing temporal headache, diffuse weakness, important rise in ESR, myoarthralgias. We performed a biopsy of the temporal artery that confirmed our diagnosis.
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PMID:[An atypical presentation of a case of Horton's giant-cell arteritis]. 868 82

Sixty-seven patients with brain abscess were managed over 19 years (1975-1993). Our series had a 2.5 to 1 male predominance; the age distribution was from 3 days to 81 years. The underlying conditions of hematogenic brain abscesses (n = 33; 49%) included lung infections (n = 16), heart disease (n = 4), sepsis (n = 10), and other foci (n = 3). Otolaryngologic infections led to the abscess in 10 cases; there were 9 traumatic abscesses. The causes remained unknown in 15 cases. There were 47 solitary abscesses (70%) and 20 multiple abscesses. The most frequent presenting signs and symptoms were neurologic deficits (n = 17), disturbances of consciousness (n = 14), seizures (n = 6), and headaches, meningism and vomiting (n = 13). Causative organisms were isolated in 39 cases (58%) and included staphylococci (n = 6), streptococci (n = 6), enterobacteriae (n = 2), and anaerobic pathogens (n = 9). The most reliable laboratory sign of inflammation was an elevated ESR (52/59 patients). With the advent of computed tomography, burr hole aspiration of the abscess with or without drainage was possible in 30 cases; the mortality in this subgroup was 9%. All 4 patients with surgical excision in the pre CT-era died. The mortality of patients treated with antibiotics only was 62% (18/29). Overall mortality was 37% (25/67), including 5 cases with post mortem-diagnosis of brain abscess. Good recovery was achieved in 29/42 survivors. Predictors of a poor outcome were the patient's age, the level of consciousness, multiple abscesses, polybacterial cultures, and a hematogenic etiology, but not the size of the abscess.
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PMID:[Bacterial brain abscess--experiences with 67 patients]. 880 80

A 57 year-old woman was seen after a three-week period of upper abdominal pain, nausea, fever, headache and exertional dyspnoea. Laboratory examination showed an elevated ESR and serum gamma-GT activity. The chest X-ray showed cardiomegaly resulting from a pericardial effusion as was demonstrated by echocardiography. An abdominal CT-scan disclosed multiple hypodense lesions in the liver and spleen and lymphadenopathy along the hepatoduodenal ligament. Liver biopsy showed a necrotising granulomatous hepatitis. A recent infection with Bartonella, presumably B. henselae, was demonstrated serologically. The patient was treated with clarithromycin and recovered.
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PMID:[Visceral granulomas and pericardial effusion caused by a Bartonella henselae infection]. 915

Lupus erythematosus (LE) is an autoimmune disorder, involving the skin and/or other internal organs. As cutaneous variants, chronic discoid LE (CDLE) and subacute cutaneous LE (SCLE) usually have a better prognosis, however, involvement of internal organs with transition into systemic disease may occur. The aim of this study was to assess the significance of some clinical and laboratory criteria that could serve as markers for early recognition of systemic involvement in cutaneous LE. Three hundred and seventy-nine patients with LE, seen in five cooperating Departments of Dermatology during the years 1989-1994, were documented by electronic data processing according to a common protocol. Two hundred and forty-five of these patients had cutaneous LE (CDLE or SCLE), and 51 had systemic LE (SLE) and were included in this study. Forty-nine patients with either CDLE/SCLE or SLE were not evaluated because of incomplete documentation; also, 34 patients suffered from other LE subsets and were likewise excluded from the evaluation. Multivariate statistical analysis was used to assess the value of seven selected variables for distinguishing between the CDLE/SCLE and SLE groups: ESR, titers of antinuclear antibodies, anti-dsDNA-antibodies, photosensitivity, presence of arthralgias, recurrent headaches and signs of nephropathy. Univariate and multivariate analysis of the obtained data showed that signs of nephropathy (proteinuria, hematuria) was the variable with the highest statistical relevance for distinguishing between patients with cutaneous (CDLE/SCLE) and with systemic LE (SLE) in all statistical models tested, followed by the presence of arthralgias and of high ANA titers (> or =1:320). In contrast, low ANA titers as well as anti-dsDNA antibodies showed little or no statistical relevance as a criterion for distinction. It seems, therefore, that cutaneous LE patients showing signs of nephropathy, presence of arthralgias and elevated ANA titers (> or =1:320) should be carefully monitored, because they may be at risk of developing systemic LE involvement.
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PMID:Markers in cutaneous lupus erythematosus indicating systemic involvement. A multicenter study on 296 patients. 922 25

A 76 year-old woman suffered from muscle pain and stiffness of acute onset in her shoulder girdle and pelvic girdle, which were followed by mild left temporal headache and transient arthralgia. Neither joint swelling nor sicca symptom was observed. Laboratory data showed high ESR (128 mm/hr), positive CRP (12.9 mg/dl), increased fibrinogen (485 mg/dl) and high titer of rheumatoid factor (RF) (RAHA x 640). Other autoantibodies examined were negative. Muscle enzymes and electromyogram were within normal limits. Joint X ray didn't reveal the finding suggestive of RA. After the treatment with prednisolone (PSL) 15 mg/day, clinical symptoms and laboratory data improved dramatically. Though she had excessive increase of RF (RAHA x 10240) during therapy, no recurrence of articular symptoms were recognized. She continues to be well with PSL 5 mg/day after 1 year 5 months from onset. As for polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR) followed by RA, the appearance or exacerbation of arthritis corresponding to the elevation of RF occurred in all previously reported 17 cases. Recurrence of arthralgia corresponding to the elevation of RF was not recognized in this case. In addition, Hunder et al reported that PMR with little or no observable joint swelling after several weeks of symptoms is unlikely to develope RA. Therefore, it is speculated that this case in unlikely to develope RA and assessment of arthritis corresponding to the elevation of RF is important to differentiate PMR and elderly-onset RA. This case of PMR is the 5th case with excessive increase of RF in Japan.
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PMID:[A case of polymyalgia rheumatica with excessive increase of rheumatoid factor]. 939 72

There is no objective data on the value of individual clinical symptoms or signs in the diagnosis of enteric fever in a febrile patient. The purpose of the study was to assess the value of some clinical and simple laboratory features in the diagnosis of enteric fever. One hundred & six patients with microbiologically confirmed enteric fever and 170 patients with other established febrile illnesses were included in the evaluation. History of stepladder pattern of rise of temperature, loose motions, relative bradycardia and coated tongue proved to be powerful markers of enteric fever with high specificity (100%, 94.71%, 94.71%, 94.12% respectively), positive and negative predictive values. Headache, hepatomegaly and splenomegaly were moderately powerful. ESR and WBC count appeared to have little value in the diagnosis of enteric fever. Pattern of onset and loose motions did not discriminate between typhoid and paratyphoid fever. Most of these patients had illness persisting beyond one week by which viral infections and infectious enterocolitides were largely excluded. Elucidation of power of these markers in distinguishing enteric fever from other febrile illnesses with the help of better designed prospective studies would lessen our dependence on expensive and time consuming laboratory investigations.
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PMID:Value of clinical features in the diagnosis of enteric fever. 946 34

We describe a 63-year-old smoker who suffered from intractable facial pain secondary to an underlying lung neoplasm. Data from 30 previously reported and similar cases are also summarized. The clinical triad of a smoker suffering from periauricular pain and an elevated ESR should alert the clinician to the possibility of an occult lung mass. In these cases a computed tomography of the chest should always be obtained. Previously refractory pain typically responds to surgical resection of the mass and/or radiation therapy.
Cephalalgia 2003 Feb
PMID:A review of intractable facial pain secondary to underlying lung neoplasms. 1253 72

Giant cell arteritis (GCA) is known to affect the extracranial part of the vertebral arteries. Bilateral vertebral artery occlusion (BVAO) is a rare but serious neurologic condition. We report 3 patients with autopsy-proven (2 patients) or clinically diagnosed (1 patient) GCA causing BVAO. A review of the literature concerning BVAO revealed 5 other cases of BVAO resulting from GCA and 110 cases with underlying arteriosclerotic disease. Our 3 patients (mean age, 66 yr; range, 60-78 yr) with BVAO resulting from GCA all had initial severe headache followed by the onset of stepwise progressive, partly side-alternating neurologic deficits due to bilateral infarctions in the vertebrobasilar circulation territory. This course, more accelerated in BVAO due to GCA than in BVAO of arteriosclerotic origin, seems to be a typical, if not particular, clinical syndrome. BVAO was the first clinical manifestation of GCA in 1 of our patients and in 1 published case. From a clinical view, BVAO resulting from GCA differs from BVAO of arteriosclerotic origin by the much higher mortality rate (75% versus 19%, respectively), the presence of headache (100% versus 22%), fever (50% versus 0%), and elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR in all GCA cases >45 mm/h; no data in the arteriosclerotic patient group), but not by the neurologic signs themselves. Therapy of BVAO resulting from GCA is purely empiric. In view of the serious prognosis, we propose treatment with intravenous high-dose glucocorticoids and additional immunosuppression with cyclophosphamide; the use of anticoagulation depends on the individual patient's estimated risk-benefit profile. Although BVAO due to GCA is rare, physicians and especially rheumatologists or neurologists should be aware of this entity because of its high mortality in patients without immediate introduction of a high-dose immunosuppressive therapy. Suspicion of GCA should arise in a patient aged over 50 years with no other vascular risk factors suffering from bilateral symptoms of ischemia in the vertebrobasilar territory, with a quickly progressing stepwise course and with headache, fever, or history of myalgia. ESR and temporal artery biopsy should be performed without delay. Early diagnosis of GCA is necessary for immediate initiation of intensive antiinflammatory and immunosuppressive treatment, without which progressive deterioration and systemic involvement are likely to be fatal.
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PMID:Bilateral vertebral artery occlusion resulting from giant cell arteritis: report of 3 cases and review of the literature. 1254 6

A 15-year-old girl presented with headache in the left retro-orbital area associated with double vision. She had a history of migraine headaches since the age of 9, and her mother also had suffered from migraine. The patient had experienced a similar episode at the age of 13, which resolved without any treatment in a day. On examination, two days after the onset of diplopia the patient had left ptosis and paresis of inwards and downwards in the left eye. Her pupils were isocoric, and the light reflex was prompt. MRI of the brain showed thickening and enhancement of the left third nerve through the cistern portion, especially at the oculomotor midbrain exit. No cavernous sinus involvement was noted. Results of the hemogram, ESR, and CSF were normal. The oculomotor palsy resolved spontaneously within six days. A follow-up MRI two months later demonstrated a marked lessening of enhancement at the oculomotor nerve but did not completely disappeared. These serial MRI abnormalities are thought to be important and typical findings seen in the patients of ophthalmoplegic migraine.
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PMID:[MRI abnormalities of the oculomotor nerve in a case of ophthalmoplegic migraine]. 1450 56

An 11-year-old boy suffered from fever, headache, severe vertigo and unsteady gait. Physical examination showed bilateral vertical nystagmus, mild corneal reflex delay of the right eye and asymmetric facial expression. Laboratory data showed leukopenia, high ESR and normal CSF study. Brain CT showed diffuse brain edema. Electronystagmography showed upbeat nystagmus and central vertigo. EEG revealed diffuse slow wave and mild to moderate cortical dysfunction. MRI of the head showed focal abnormal signal intensity at the ventral portion of the medulla oblongata on both sides. Under suspicion of enteroviral encephalitis, mannitol and IVIG were given. The virological profiles were negative, ANA 1:640 nucleolar type, low complements and proteinuria. Anti-ds DNA was elevated and anti-ribosomal-P antibodies were positive. Under impression of SLE with CNS involvement, betamethasone was given. Fever, nystagmus and ataxia subsided gradually. Steroid was tapered and imuran was added. The following laboratory data were normal. In his past history, the patient was diagnosed Kikuchi disease. The manifestations of SLE were rare initial presentations as vertigo or vertical nystagmus. We present a case with review of literature and conclusion that physicians should keep in mind the possibility of SLE if patients present with unspecific neurological symptoms and concomitant systemic symptoms.
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PMID:Systemic lupus erythematosus with presentation as vertigo and vertical nystagmus: report of one case. 1452 Oct 22


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