Headache associated with transient or permanent cerebrovascular disease

Abstract

Headache is a common symptom in stroke, however the frequency, location, duration and other characteristics of the patients who developed headache during stroke are difficult to define. We studied headache characteristics in patients with first-ever acute stroke (hemorrhagic or ischemic) or transient ischemic attack (TIA) and assessed the relationship between headache, stroke location, and etiology. The study included 104 consecutive patients (mean age 55.8±0.8 years; range, 40–70 years) admitted with acute stroke. Eleven patients had TIA, 70 ischemic stroke, and 23 hemorrhagic stroke. Headache was reported in 37 patients (35.6%) and was more common in hemorrhagic stroke compared to ischemic stroke or TIA (p<0.05). Headache was present in 26.8% of the patients with anterior circulation stroke and in 62.5% of the patients with posterior circulation stroke (p=0.006). No relationship was found between the size of the lesion detected by computed tomography and the presence of headache.