Post-angiography headaches.
Headache is a common symptom after cerebral angiography, although it has seldom been studied. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of headache at 24 h and 6 months after angiography and to describe its characteristics. We used a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients submitted to angiography and determined headache presence and its characterization. Headache occurrence was analyzed against headache history, clinical data, technical and demographical variables. Of 107 procedures studied, 51.3% patients experienced headaches within 24 h. Patients more likely to experience headaches were females or had subarachnoid hemorrhage. Six months post-procedure 48.8% of patients had frequent headaches. These patients had a positive headache history before the procedure, migraine in particular. Half of patients undergoing routine angiography experience benign post-procedure headaches within 24 h (especially women), yet it does not seem to predispose to chronic long-term headaches.
Gil-Gouveia
Raquel Santos
RS
Institute of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon's Faculty of Medicine, Hospital Santa Maria, Lisbon, Portugal. rgilgouveia@gmail.com
Sousa
Rita Fernandes
RF
Lopes
Leonor
L
Campos
Jorge
J
Martins
Isabel Pavão
IP
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000792:Angiography / Q000009:adverse effects*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019370:Observation; D011446:Prospective Studies; D012737:Sex Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric; D013997:Time Factors