Thunderclap headache as the presenting symptom of myocardial infarction

Cardiac cephalalgia: a narrative review and ICHD-3 criteria evaluation

BACKGROUND

Cardiac cephalalgia is an unusual condition that occurs during an episode of myocardial ischemia. Information about cardiac cephalalgia is scarce and its characteristics and physiopathology remain unclear. Our aim is to provide a narrative review of clinical characteristics and physiopathology of cardiac cephalalgia and to evaluate the current diagnostic criteria.  METHODS: A search through PubMed was undertaken for studies on cardiac cephalalgia published until 20th September 2022. We summarized the literature and provide a comprehensive review of the headache characteristics and possible mechanisms. We also evaluated current International Classification of Headache Disorders third edition diagnostic criteria based on prior reported cases.  RESULTS: In total, 88 cases were found. Headache characteristics were variable. Occipital location and throbbing pain were the most frequently reported. Headache was accompanied in most cases by cardiac symptoms. Criterion B was fulfilled by 98% of cases, criterion C1 by 72%, and criteria C2a and C2b by 37 and 93.2%, respectively. Regarding headache features described in diagnostic criterion C3, 'moderate to severe intensity', 'accompanied by nausea', 'not accompanied by photophobia or phonophobia' and 'aggravated by exertion', were reported in 75, 31, 55 and 55% of cases, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Cardiac cephalalgia characteristics are variable and the headache features described in the diagnostic criterion C3 might not be adequate. Given that cardiac cephalalgia can be the manifestation of a life-threatening condition it is important to increase the knowledge about this entity.

Cardiac cephalalgia: a case series of four patients and updated literature review

Background

Cardiac damage is common in patients with acute brain injury; however, little is known regarding cardiac-induced neurological symptoms. In the International Classification of Headache, Third Edition (ICHD-III), cardiac cephalalgia is classified as a headache caused by impaired homeostasis.

Methods

This report presents four patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) who presented with headache that fulfilled the ICHD-III diagnostic criteria for cardiac cephalalgia. A systematic review of cardiac cephalalgia using the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines is also presented.

Results

Case 1: A 69-year-old man with a history of percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) developed sudden severe occipital pain, nausea, and cold sweating. Coronary angiography (CAG) revealed occlusion of the right coronary artery (RCA). Case 2: A 66-year-old woman complained of increasing occipitalgia and chest discomfort while riding a bicycle. CAG demonstrated 99% stenosis of the left anterior descending artery. Case 3: A 54-year-old man presented with faintness, cold sweating, and occipitalgia after eating lunch. CAG detected occlusion of the RCA. Case 4: A 72-year-old man went into shock after complaining of a sudden severe headache and nausea. Vasopressors were initiated and emergency CAG was performed, which detected three-vessel disease. In all four, electrocardiography (ECG) showed ST segment elevation or depression and echocardiography revealed a left ventricular wall motion abnormality. All patients underwent PCI, which resulted in headache resolution after successful coronary reperfusion. A total of 59 cases of cardiac cephalalgia were reviewed, including the four reported here. Although the typical manifestation of cardiac cephalalgia is migraine-like pain on exertion, it may present with thunderclap headache without a trigger or chest symptoms, mimicking subarachnoid hemorrhage. ECG may not always show an abnormality. Headaches resolve after successful coronary reperfusion.

Conclusions

Cardiac cephalalgia resulting from AMI can present with or without chest discomfort and even mimic the classic thunderclap headache associated with SAH. It should be recognized as a neurological emergency and treated without delay.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12245-022-00436-2.

Subarachnoid Hemorrhage and Headache

PURPOSE FOR REVIEW

Subarachnoid hemorrhage is a serious and life-threatening medical condition which commonly presents with an acute headache. Unfortunately, it remains frequently misdiagnosed at initial presentation with dire consequences in terms of patient morbidity and mortality. The goal of this paper is to review salient features in the clinical history, as well as recently developed clinical decision rules, which can help determine which patients warrant further investigation for subarachnoid hemorrhage when the initial presentation is that of an acute headache.

RECENT FINDINGS

A recent prospective observational study showed that occipital location, stabbing quality, presence of meningism, and onset of headache during exertion were characteristics in the clinical history that can distinguish the headache of SAH from other causes. The Ottawa headache rule is a clinical decision tool which was developed to help identify patients presenting to the ED with acute non-traumatic headache who require investigation to rule out subarachnoid hemorrhage. Using this tool, it is recommended that patients who meet any one of the following 6 criteria are investigated further: Onset greater than or equal to 40 years, presence of neck pain or stiffness, witnessed loss of consciousness, onset during exertion, thunder clap headache (pain peaking within 1 s), or limited neck flexion on exam. An informed and thoughtful approach that takes into account the timing, presentation, risk factors, and resources, as discussed here, should help distinguish between the patient that warrants further evaluation and intervention for SAH and one who does not. The Ottawa SAH rule is a useful clinical decision tool for young inexperienced clinicians in order to avoid missed diagnoses. However, its clinical value is limited by its low specificity. Clinical decision tools with higher specificity are needed.

Cardiac cephalalgia: one case with cortical hypoperfusion in headaches and literature review

BACKGROUND

Cardiac cephalalgia (CC) is a rare disease occurring during an episode of myocardial ischemia and relieved by nitroglycerine. Though more than 30 cases of CC have been reported since 1997, the mechanism is yet obscure. Herein, a case of CC is presented and discussed in relevance with previous literature to propose a novel hypothesis about the mechanism of CC.

METHOD

A CC patient with cortical hypoperfusion during headache attacks was presented, which has never been reported. All published cases of CC via PubMed ( http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed ) in English literature, between 1997 and 2016, were reviewed.

RESULTS

A patient suffering from CC presented a cerebral hypoperfusion during a headache attack. This phenomenon had not been observed since CC was introduced in 1997. The literature review summarized the clinical presentations, neuroimaging features, ECG, and coronary angiography features of 35 CC patients.

CONCLUSION

Based on the phenomenon of hypoperfusion in the event of a headache, the vessel constriction hypothesis was proposed including two potential physiological mechanisms underlying the pathophysiology of CC.

A systematic review of causes of sudden and severe headache (Thunderclap Headache): should lists be evidence based?

Background

There are many potential causes of sudden and severe headache (thunderclap headache), the most important of which is aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. Published academic reviews report a wide range of causes. We sought to create a definitive list of causes, other than aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage, using a systematic review.

Methods

Systematic Review of EMBASE and MEDLINE databases using pre-defined search criteria up to September 2009. We extracted data from any original research paper or case report describing a case of someone presenting with a sudden and severe headache, and summarized the published causes.

Results

Our search identified over 21,000 titles, of which 1224 articles were scrutinized in full. 213 articles described 2345 people with sudden and severe headache, and we identified 6 English language academic review articles. A total of 119 causes were identified, of which 46 (38%) were not mentioned in published academic review articles. Using capture-recapture analysis, we estimate that our search was 98% complete. There is only one population-based estimate of the incidence of sudden and severe headache at 43 cases per 100,000. In cohort studies, the most common causes identified were primary headaches or headaches of uncertain cause. Vasoconstriction syndromes are commonly mentioned in case reports or case series. The most common cause not mentioned in academic reviews was pneumocephalus. 70 non-English language articles were identified but these did not contain additional causes.

Conclusions

There are over 100 different published causes of sudden and severe headache, other than aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage. We have now made a definitive list of causes for future reference which we intend to maintain. There is a need for an up to date population based description of cause of sudden and severe headache as the modern epidemiology of thunderclap headache may require updating in the light of research on cerebral vasoconstriction syndromes.

Abrupt-onset severe headaches

Thunderclap headache, a severe headache which is maximal in intensity at onset, is associated with numerous underlying disorders, including subarachnoid hemorrhage, unruptured intracranial aneurysm, cervical artery dissection, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, stroke, intracranial hemorrhage, reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndrome, and reversible posterior leukoencephalopathy. After exclusion of all possible causes, thunderclap headache may be considered a primary headache. This review summarizes the diagnostic considerations and clinical approach to thunderclap headache, with particular emphasis on the reversible cerebral vasoconstriction syndromes.

Cardiac cephalgia

The purpose of this review was to provide a critical evaluation of medical literature on so-called “cardiac cephalgia” or “cardiac cephalalgia”. The 2004 International Classification of Headache Disorders codes cardiac cephalgia to 10.6 in the group of secondary headaches attributed to disorder of homoeostasis. This headache is hardly recognizable and is associated to an ischaemic cardiovascular event, of which it may be the only manifestation in 27% of cases. It usually occurs after exertion. Sometimes routine examinations, cardiac enzymes, ECG and even exercise stress test prove negative. In such cases, only a coronary angiogram can provide sufficient evidence for diagnosis. Cardiac cephalgia manifests itself without a specific pattern of clinical features: indeed, in this headache subtype there is a high variability of clinical manifestations between different patients and also within the same patient. It “mimics” sometimes a form of migraine either accompanied or not by autonomic symptoms, sometimes a form of tension-type headache; on other occasions, it exhibits characteristics that can hardly be interpreted as typical of primary headache. Pain location is highly variable. When the headache occurs as the only manifestation of an acute coronary event, the clues for suspicion are a) older age at onset, b) no past medical history of headache, c) presence of risk factors for vascular disorders and d) onset of headache under stress. Knowledge of cardiac cephalgia is scarce, due to its rare clinical occurrence and to the scant importance given to headache as a symptom concomitantly with an ischaemic cardiac event.

[Thunderclap headache caused by cerebellar infarction]

Thunderclap headache is an acute and severe headache and is often the first sign of a life-threatening neurovascular disorder. The case of a 44-year-old man is described who presented with a thunderclap headache as the only clinical symptom. The clinical examination did not reveal any other focal deficits or signs of motor or sensory failures. Routine blood tests, cerebral CT as well as cerebrospinal fluid analysis showed no pathological results. A cerebral MRI to exclude a symptomatic thunderclap headache revealed a right cerebellar infarction. This case expands the differential diagnosis of thunderclap headache and reinforces the need for magnetic resonance imaging in the evaluation of such patients, even when neurological examination, cerebral CT, and cerebrospinal fluid analysis are normal.