Handbook of clinical neurology
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New daily persistent headache (NDPH) is a unique form of chronic daily headache (CDH) which is marked by a daily headache from onset, typically occurring in individuals without a significant prior history of headaches. There are two subforms of NDPH: one which is self-limited and normally goes away without therapy, and a more chronic refractory form which is unresponsive to typical headache treatment strategies. The pathogenesis of NDPH is unknown but recent observations suggest a connection with cervical spine hypermobility and elevation of proinflammatory cytokines in the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF). ⋯ The syndrome appears to affect women in their teens and 20s, while males develop NDPH later in life in their 50s or 60s. There are no recognized treatments for this condition, although treatment options will be discussed. Secondary mimics of NDPH will also be touched upon in this chapter.
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Headache is relatively common in patients with cerebrovascular disorders. The reported frequency of stroke-related headache ranges from 7% to 65% and different types of headache, such as onset headache, sentinel headache, or delayed headache, may be observed in association with stroke. Headache can be attributed to ischemic stroke, transient ischemic attack, or non-traumatic intracranial hemorrhage, including intracerebral and subarachnoid hemorrhage. ⋯ The suddenness of onset and not its severity is the characteristic feature of the headache in subarachnoid hemorrhage. Referring to unruptured vascular malformations, the headache can be attributed to saccular aneurysm, arteriovenous malformation, dural arteriovenous fistula, dural cavernous angioma, and encephalotrigeminal or leptomeningeal angiomatosis (Sturge-Weber syndrome). It is very important to recognize that in the latter forms the onset of headache may indicate an upcoming bleeding complication.
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The great formative event in the history of North America, the Civil War of 1861 to 1865, was the stimulus for the development of clinical neurology and the neurosciences. The first neurological research center on the continent was the US Army hospital at Turner's Lane, Philadelphia, PA. Silas Weir Mitchell and his colleagues described causalgia (reflex sympathetic dystrophy), phantom limb sensation, and Horner's syndrome (before Horner). ⋯ Early in the 20th century, neurological institutions were formed around universities; probably the most famous was the Montreal Neurological Institute founded by Wilder Penfield. The US federal government sponsored extensive research into the function and dysfunction of the nervous system through the Neurological Institute of Neurological Diseases and Blindness, later called the National Institute of Neurological Diseases and Stroke. The government officially classified the final 10 years of the 20th century as the Decade of the Brain and provided an even greater level of research funding.
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Historical Article
Chapter 8: the development of neurology and the neurological sciences in the 17th century.
Circa 1660 several favorable factors, instrumental to the invention of neurology, converged at the University of Oxford. Animals and men were believed to have a material soul whose functions throughout the nervous system were accessible to research. In 1659 inductive methods were introduced in clinical medicine by Thomas Willis, the founder of English epidemiology and biochemistry. ⋯ There was a physiological part, a textbook of neurophysiology, and a pathological part, a compendium of neurological and psychiatric syndromes, with early descriptions of myasthenia, restless legs, narcolepsy, dissociative and bipolar disease, and general paralysis of the insane. In 1667 he published a book on convulsive diseases, in which he described the blood-brain barrier, epileptic and hysterical brain disorders, and Parkinson's disease. Thus Willis recognized and presented the key themes of the future specialty.
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In the acute setting, the primary objective is to decide whether the headache is primary, secondary but benign (for example a headache associated with a cold), or secondary to a potentially life-threatening cause (subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH), bacterial meningitis, intracranial hypertension). The cornerstone of headache diagnosis is the interview with the patient, followed by a thorough physical examination. These two first clinical steps determine the need for investigation, immediate with inpatient care or on an outpatient basis, and the treatment to recommend, acutely and for future attacks in the case of primary headache. ⋯ Headaches can be separated into four groups: (1) recent onset and thunderclap; (2) recent onset with progressive installation: (3) well known to the patient and episodic (attacks with headache-free periods, as in episodic migraine or cluster headache); and (4) chronic daily headaches (more than 3 months, more than 15 days of headache per month). Headaches with a recent onset and judged unusual or worrisome by the patient (even one with frequent headaches) must raise the suspicion of a secondary cause and need to be investigated. Headaches that continue for months or years are more often primary, but secondary causes need to be ruled out in certain cases.