Souza Delon D, Shivde Sonia, Awatare Poonam, Avati Amrutha, John Saji K, Badachi Sagar, Nadig Raghunandan, Sarma Grk, Mathew Thomas
Department of Neurology, St. John's Medical College Hospital, Bengaluru, India.
SAGE Open Med. 2021 Oct 7;9:20503121211050227. doi: 10.1177/20503121211050227. eCollection 2021.
The prevalence and characteristics of COVID-19-related headaches are not known in Indian patients. We aim to determine the prevalence and characteristics of headache in COVID-19-infected individuals and make a comparison with those without headaches.
This prospective cross-sectional observational study was conducted from 1 October to 31 October 2020. Data were collected using a detailed questionnaire. We compared the data of those with and without headaches to identify the differences between the groups.
During the study period of 1 month, among 225 COVID-19-infected patients, 33.8% patients had headaches. The mean age of patients with headache was 48.89 ± 15.19 years. In all, 53.9% were females. In 65.8%, headache occurred at the onset of viral illness; 44.7% described the headache as dull aching; 39.5% had bifrontal headache; and 32.9% had holocranial headache. In total, 78.9% had complete resolution of headache within 5 days. A comparison between those with and without headaches showed that those with headaches were more younger (48.89 ± 15.19 vs 54.61 ± 14.57 years, p = 0.007) and of female gender (41/76(53.9%) vs 41/149 (27.5%), p = 0.001). Primary headache disorders were more common in the headache group. Levels of inflammatory markers such as leukocyte count (7234.17 ± 3054.96 vs 8773.35 ± 5103.65, p = 0.017), erythrocyte sedimentation rate (39.28 ± 23.29 vs 50.41 ± 27.61, p = 0.02) and ferritin (381.06 ± 485.2 vs 657.10 ± 863.80, p = 0.014) were lower in those with headaches.
Headaches are a common and early symptom of acute SARS-CoV-2 infection more frequently seen in young females and in those with a history of primary headache disorders. The lower level of inflammatory markers in those with headaches suggests that these headaches are probably due to the local spread of virus through the trigeminal nerve endings, resulting in activation of the trigeminovascular system.
在印度患者中，与新冠病毒病（COVID-19）相关头痛的患病率及特征尚不清楚。我们旨在确定COVID-19感染个体中头痛的患病率及特征，并与无头痛者进行比较。
本前瞻性横断面观察性研究于2020年10月1日至10月31日进行。使用详细问卷收集数据。我们比较了有头痛和无头痛者的数据，以确定两组之间的差异。
在1个月的研究期间，225例COVID-19感染患者中，33.8%的患者有头痛。头痛患者的平均年龄为48.89±15.19岁。其中，53.9%为女性。65.8%的患者头痛发生在病毒感染发病时；44.7%的患者将头痛描述为隐痛；39.5%的患者为双侧前额头痛；32.9%的患者为全头部头痛。总体而言，78.9%的患者头痛在5天内完全缓解。有头痛和无头痛者的比较显示，有头痛者更年轻（48.89±15.19岁对54.61±14.57岁，p = 0.007）且女性比例更高（41/76（53.9%）对41/149（27.5%），p = 0.001）。原发性头痛疾病在头痛组中更常见。头痛患者的炎症标志物水平如白细胞计数（7234.17±3054.96对8773.35±5103.65，p = 0.017）、红细胞沉降率（39.28±23.29对50.41±27.61，p = 0.02）和铁蛋白（381.06±485.2对657.10±863.80，p = 0.014）较低。
头痛是急性严重急性呼吸综合征冠状病毒2（SARS-CoV-2）感染的常见早期症状，在年轻女性和有原发性头痛疾病史的患者中更常见。头痛患者炎症标志物水平较低表明，这些头痛可能是由于病毒通过三叉神经末梢局部扩散，导致三叉神经血管系统激活所致。
