High-altitude headache （HAH） is a type of headache associated with disorder of homoeostasis， and it often appears after ascent to 2 500 m or higher and resolves within 24 hours after descent to below 2 500 m. HAH may occur independently or in association with the onset of acute mountain sickness and chronic mountain sickness. This article describes the clinical features of HAH and discusses the possible pathogenesis， risk factors， preventive measures， treatment， and prognosis of HAH， in order to provide a theoretical basis for further research on HAH.
Headache

BACKGROUND

Polypharmacy in patients with chronic disease such as Migraine Headache poses potential harm in patients such that psychological distress may come in. In relation to psychological distress, Migraine Headache patients with multiple drug use are at increased risk of anxiety and depression.

The main objective of the study is to determine the association between anxiety and depression to polypharmacy in migraine headache patients by using the data in the PNA One Headache Database.

We utilized the data obtained from the Philippine Neurological Association One (PNA-1) Headache Database from 2021 to 2024 and determine the association between Anxiety and Depression to Polypharmacy in patients with Migraine.

The number of medications taken by patients does not significantly differ across depression and anxiety levels, indicating that polypharmacy has no impact on patient’s depression and anxiety. However, the study found that patients with anxiety have more tendency to report more severe headache.

The study highlights that participants, primarily middle-aged women, experience chronic headaches with high pain severity, often lasting for hours. Educational attainment may influence headache management compliance with a large proportion having only elementary education. Headache onset typically begins in early adulthood, and medication effectiveness often diminishes over time suggesting potential tolerance issues. Anxiety is associated with reporting of increased headache severity while depression does not significantly impact headache characteristics or polypharmacy. The findings emphasize the need for targeted interventions and revised treatment strategies to improve headache management outcomes.

Migraine is the most common disabling primary headache with a significant socioeconomic burden. At present, some emerging drugs for migraine preventive treatment are under investigation internationally, which significantly promote the progress of migraine treatment. However, only few of this trial for migraine treatment are explored in China. In order to promote and standardize controlled clinical trials of migraine preventive therapy in China, and to provide methodological guidance for the design, implementation and evaluation of clinical trials, the Headache Collaborators of Chinese Society of Neurology formulated this consensus.
Humans ; Adult ; Consensus ; Migraine Disorders/therapy* ; Headache ; China ; Neurology

Migraine is a highly disabling primary headache disease, accompanied by nausea, emesis, photophobia and phonophobia. Chronic migraine is usually developed from episodic migraine, and usually comorbids with anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders, further aggravating the disease burden. At present, the clinical diagnosis and treatment of migraine in China are not standard, and the migraine medical quality control evaluation system is lacking. In order to achieve standardized diagnosis and treatment of migraine, headache collaborators of Chinese Society of Neurology, based on national and international clinical research on diagnosis and treatment of migraine and combined with the current situation of China's medical system, drafted the expert consensus on the medical quality evaluation of inpatients with chronic migraine.
Humans ; Consensus ; Migraine Disorders/diagnosis* ; Nausea ; Photophobia/diagnosis* ; Headache

COVID-19 primarily presents as a pulmonary problem, ranging from mild respiratory illness to fatal acute respiratory distress syndrome. Most common manifestations are fever (89%) and cough (72%), while headache and arrhythmia are found in 28% and 17%, respectively. We aim to present a confirmed COVID-19 case presenting with both neurologic and cardiac manifestations. A 33-year-old Filipino male nurse initially consulted at the emergency room due to progressive diffuse headache, with associated localized seizures progressing to generalized tonic clonic seizure and arrhythmia. He had no coryza, cough, sore throat, and diarrhea. He was previously well and had no known co-morbidities or direct exposure to confirmed COVID-19 patients. Physical examination showed elevated blood pressure, tachycardia, and sensory and motor deficits in the left upper and lower extremities. Pertinent diagnostic test results included the detection of SARS-CoV-2 viral RNA via RT-PCR. Imaging studies demonstrated cortical venous thrombosis with hemorrhagic venous infarction in the right parietal lobe. Ground glass appearance on the middle lobe of the left lung was also evident. ECG showed supraventricular tachycardia. Prothrombin time, activated partial thromboplastin time, and D-dimer were all within the normal limits. Carotid massage was done. He was treated with anti-epileptics, anticoagulants, antiarrhythmics, antivirals, antibiotics, and supportive management. During the hospital stay, his symptoms resolved; he was discharged after 21 days. Follow-up done after 3 weeks revealed no recurrence of severe headache, seizure, or tachycardia. It is theorized that an interplay exists between ACE-2 tropism, systemic inflammation, cytokine storm, and hypoxemia in the background of COVID-19 infection. These mechanisms may lead to thrombosis and arrhythmia resulting to neurologic derangements and myocardial injury. Underlying mechanisms make the cerebro-cardiovascular systems vulnerable to the coronavirus disease 2019 infection. COVID-19 should therefore be part of the differential diagnoses in patients presenting with headache, seizures, and arrhythmias.
COVID-19 ; headache ; seizure ; supraventricular tachycardia

BACKGROUND: No convincing modalities have been shown to completely prevent postdural puncture headache (PDPH) after accidental dural puncture (ADP) during obstetric epidural procedures. We aimed to evaluate the role of epidural administration of hydroxyethyl starch (HES) in preventing PDPH following ADP, regarding the prophylactic efficacy and side effects. METHODS: Between January 2019 and February 2021, patients with a recognized ADP during epidural procedures for labor or cesarean delivery were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the prophylactic strategies for the development of PDPH at a single tertiary hospital. The development of PDPH, severity and duration of headache, adverse events associated with prophylactic strategies, and hospital length of stay postpartum were reported. RESULTS: A total of 105 patients experiencing ADP received a re-sited epidural catheter. For PDPH prophylaxis, 46 patients solely received epidural analgesia, 25 patients were administered epidural HES on epidural analgesia, and 34 patients received two doses of epidural HES on and after epidural analgesia, respectively. A significant difference was observed in the incidence of PDPH across the groups (epidural analgesia alone, 31 [67.4%]; HES-Epidural analgesia, ten [40.0%]; HES-Epidural analgesia-HES, five [14.7%]; P <0.001). No neurologic deficits, including paresthesias and motor deficits related to prophylactic strategies, were reported from at least 2 months to up to more than 2 years after delivery. An overall backache rate related to HES administration was 10%. The multivariable regression analysis revealed that the HES-Epidural analgesia-HES strategy was significantly associated with reduced risk of PDPH following ADP (OR = 0.030, 95% confidence interval: 0.006-0.143; P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS The incorporated prophylactic strategy was associated with a great decrease in the risk of PDPH following obstetric ADP. This strategy consisted of re-siting an epidural catheter with continuous epidural analgesia and two doses of epidural HES, respectively, on and after epidural analgesia. The efficacy and safety profiles of this strategy have to be investigated further.
Pregnancy ; Female ; Humans ; Post-Dural Puncture Headache/epidemiology* ; Anesthesia, Obstetrical/adverse effects* ; Retrospective Studies ; Punctures ; Starch ; Blood Patch, Epidural

Objective To analyze clinical characteristics of patients with neuropsychiatric systemic lupus erythematosus (NPSLE) and to explore the risk factors affecting the occurrence of NPSLE. Methods A total of 63 NPSLE patients and 61 non-NPSLE patients were enrolled. The clinical manifestations and laboratory examination data of the two groups were collected, and the disease characteristics of NPSLE were summarized to analyze the risk factors affecting the occurrence of NPSLE by multivariate Logistic regression. Results The most common clinical manifestations of NPSLE patients were headache (39.7%), affective disorder (33.3%) and cognitive impairment (30.2%), with cranial magnetic resonance abnormalities (63.5%) and a high cerebrospinal fluid protein positive rate (52.4%). Compared with non-NPSLE patients, there were significantly increased levels of Raynaud's phenomenon, renal involvement, anti-RNP antibody, anti-ribosomal P protein, hypocomplementemia, lymphocyte-to-monocyte ratio (LMR) and neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) in NPSLE patients. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that renal involvement, Raynaud's phenomenon, positive anti-ribosomal P protein antibody, and elevated LMR and NLR were independent risk factors for NPSLE. Conclusion Headache is the most common symptom in patients with NPSLE, and abnormal cranial MRI and cerebrospinal fluid examination are more common. SLE patients who present with renal involvement, Raynaud's phenomenon, positive anti-ribosomal P protein antibodies, and elevated levels of LMR and NLR are more susceptible to developing NPSLE.
Humans ; Lupus Vasculitis, Central Nervous System ; Risk Factors ; Headache ; Antibodies, Antinuclear ; Cognitive Dysfunction

Humans ; Post-Traumatic Headache/etiology* ; Risk Factors ; Cervical Vertebrae/surgery*

OBJECTIVE: To observe the clinical effect of bloodletting at auricular dorsal vein combined with auricular point sticking on menstrual migraine (MM) of qi stagnation and blood stasis, and explore its possible mechanism. METHODS: A total of 102 cases of MM with qi stagnation and blood stasis were randomly divided into an observation group (51 cases, 3 cases dropped off) and a control group (51 cases, 2 cases dropped off). The patients in the observation group were treated with bloodletting at auricular dorsal vein combined with auricular point sticking. The bloodletting was performed at vein at upper 1/3 of the dorsalis near the ear helix; the auricular point sticking was performed at Pizhixia (AT₄), Neifenmi (CO₁₈), Jiaogan (AH_6a), Nie (AT₂), Zhen (AT₃), Shenmen (TF₄) and Yidan (CO₁₁). The auricular points of both ears were alternate used. From 7 days before the onset of menstruation, bloodletting at auricular dorsal vein was given once every 7 days, 3 times were taken as a course of treatment, and 1 course of treatment was given; the auricular point sticking was given once every 3 days, and 6 times of treatment were given. The patients in the control group were treated with oral administration of flunarizine hydrochloride capsules. From 7 days before the onset of menstruation, flunarizine hydrochloride was given 2 capsules per time, once a day for 3 weeks. The menstrual headache index and visual analogue scale (VAS) score of the two groups were observed before treatment, one menstrual cycle into treatment and the first and the second menstrual cycle after treatment; the migraine-specific quality of life questionnaire (MSQ) score and the serum levels of estradiol (E₂) and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) were compared before treatment and one menstrual cycle into treatment; the clinical efficacy was evaluated at one menstrual cycle into treatment. RESULTS: Compared before treatment, the menstrual headache index and VAS scores were reduced at one menstrual cycle into treatment and the first and second menstrual cycle after treatment in the two groups (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were lower than the control group (P<0.05). Compared before treatment, the MSQ scores and the serum levels of E₂ and 5-HT in the two groups were increased at one menstrual cycle into treatment (P<0.05), and those in the observation group were higher than the control group (P<0.05). The total effective rate was 95.8% (46/48) in the observation group, which was higher than 73.5% (36/49) in the control group (P<0.05). CONCLUSION Bloodletting at auricular dorsal vein combined with auricular point sticking could relieve headache intensity, improve the quality of life in patients with MM of qi stagnation and blood stasis, which may be achieved by raising the serum levels of E₂ and 5-HT to improve the level of hormone in the body.
Female ; Humans ; Acupuncture, Ear ; Bloodletting ; Serotonin ; Capsules ; Flunarizine ; Qi ; Quality of Life ; Migraine Disorders/drug therapy* ; Headache/therapy* ; Treatment Outcome ; Acupuncture Points

The basic constituent elements of ancient acupuncture prescriptions and moxibustion prescriptions for migraine and headache are extracted and summarized. The frequency and proportion of each element are counted and its characteristics are analyzed. The basic constituent elements of ancient acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions includes five aspects: disease symptoms (main symptoms, concurrent symptoms, etiology and pathogenesis), disease type, acupuncture and moxibustion site (acupoint name, site name, meridian name), manipulation method (acupuncture method, reinforcing and reducing method, blood pricking method, moxibustion method) and curative effect. Acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions are essential for recording the disease symptoms, while the acupuncture and moxibustion site and manipulation methods are the two core elements of ancient acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions, which are also the premise to ensure that acupuncture and moxibustion prescriptions have good reference value.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Meridians ; Acupuncture Points ; Headache/therapy* ; Migraine Disorders/therapy*