title: Chronic post-traumatic headaches classified and compared with natural headaches.
abstract: This study sought to determine whether chronic post-traumatic headaches are different from or identical to the naturally occurring headaches. The chronic post-traumatic headaches of 48 patients were classified, as if they were natural headaches, by the diagnostic criteria of the International Headache Society. Thirty-six patients' headaches (75%) were chronic tension-type headache, 10 (21%) were migraine without aura, and 2 (4%) were unclassifiable. The characteristics and accompaniments of the headaches within each diagnostic group were then compared to those in a control group with natural headaches of the same type. No notable differences between the post-traumatic and control groups were found. Hence, chronic post-traumatic headaches have no special features, but are symptomatically identical to either chronic tension-type headache or migraine without aura (in this series of patients). This identity suggests that post-traumatic headaches are generated by the same processes causing the natural headaches, not by intracranial derangement from head blows or jolts.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurology, State University of New York Health Science Center at Syracuse, USA.
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Haas
mesh_terms: D002908:Chronic Disease; D006259:Craniocerebral Trauma / Q000150:complications*; D006261:Headache / Q000145:classification* / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans