title: Headache in the Emergency Department: Avoiding Misdiagnosis of Dangerous Secondary Causes.
abstract: There are a number of dangerous secondary causes of headaches that are life, limb, brain, or vision threatening that emergency physicians must consider in patients presenting with acute headache. Careful history and physical examination targeted at these important secondary causes of headache will help to avoid misdiagnosis in these patients. Patients with acute thunderclap headache have a differential diagnosis beyond subarachnoid hemorrhage. Considering the "context" of headache "PLUS" some other symptom or sign is one strategy to help focus the differential diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: LAC+USC Emergency Medicine Residency, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, 1200 North State Street, Room 1060E, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA. Electronic address: tabatabai.usc@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Ramin R
authors.initials: RR
authors.lastname: Tabatabai
authors.affiliation: LAC+USC Emergency Medicine Residency, LAC+USC Medical Center, Keck School of Medicine of USC, 1200 North State Street, Room 1060E, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA.
authors.forename: Stuart P
authors.initials: SP
authors.lastname: Swadron
mesh_terms: D002493:Central Nervous System Diseases / Q000150:complications; D003072:Cognition Disorders / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital; D005334:Fever / Q000150:complications; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000150:complications; D006261:Headache / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications
keywords: Headache misdiagnosis; Primary headache; Secondary headache; Thunderclap headache