Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy.
Department of Biomedicine, Neurosciences and Advanced Diagnostics, University of Palermo, Palermo, Italy; Headache Unit, Ospedale Buccheri La Ferla, Palermo, Italy.
J Neurol Sci. 2023 Mar 15;446:120591. doi: 10.1016/j.jns.2023.120591. Epub 2023 Feb 16.
To describe the characteristics of patients with new-onset headache following SARS-CoV-2 infection.
SARS-CoV-2 infection leads to several neurological manifestations, and headache is a frequent and disabling symptom, both exacerbating pre-existing headache syndromes and causing new-onset ones.
Patients with new-onset headache after SARS-CoV-2 infection with consent to participate were included, while those ones with previous headaches were excluded. The temporal latency of headache after infection, pain characteristics, and concomitant symptoms were analysed. Moreover, the efficacy of acute and preventive medications was explored.
Eleven females (median age 37.0 [10.0-60.0] years old) were included. In most cases, headache onset occurred with the infection, the location of pain varied, and the quality was either pulsating or tightening. Headache was persistent and daily in 8 patients (72.7%), while it occurred in episodes in the remaining subjects. Baseline diagnoses were new daily persistent headache (36.4%), probable new daily persistent headache (36.4%), probable migraine (9.1%), and migraine-like headache secondary to COVID-19 (18.2%). Ten patients received one or more preventive treatments and six of them showed an improvement.
New-onset headache following COVID-19 is a heterogenous condition with uncertain pathogenesis. This type of headache can become persistent and severe, with a wide spectrum of manifestations (new daily persistent headache being the most represented one) and variable response to treatment.
描述新冠病毒感染后新发头痛患者的特征。
新冠病毒感染可引起多种神经系统表现，头痛是一种常见且使人虚弱的症状，既加重了原有头痛综合征，也引起新发头痛。
纳入了同意参与研究的新发头痛的新冠病毒感染患者，同时排除了既往有头痛的患者。分析了头痛在感染后的潜伏期、疼痛特征和伴随症状。此外，还探讨了急性和预防性药物的疗效。
共纳入 11 名女性（中位年龄 37.0[10.0-60.0]岁）。在大多数情况下，头痛是在感染时出现的，疼痛位置多变，性质为搏动性或紧束性。8 名患者（72.7%）的头痛持续且每日发作，而其余患者的头痛呈发作性。基线诊断为新发持续性每日头痛（36.4%）、可能的新发持续性每日头痛（36.4%）、可能的偏头痛（9.1%）和 COVID-19 继发的偏头痛样头痛（18.2%）。10 名患者接受了一种或多种预防性治疗，其中 6 名患者的症状得到了改善。
新冠病毒感染后新发头痛是一种发病机制不确定的异质性疾病。这种类型的头痛可能持续且严重，表现多样（以新发持续性每日头痛最为多见），且对治疗的反应不一。
