Title |
Imaging results in a consecutive series of 530 new patients in the Birmingham Headache Service
|
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Published in |
Journal of Neurology, March 2010
|
DOI | 10.1007/s00415-010-5506-7 |
Pubmed ID | |
Authors |
C. E. Clarke, J. Edwards, D. J. Nicholl, A. Sivaguru |
Abstract |
Guidelines recommend imaging only headache patients with sinister features in the history or on examination. We prospectively collected data on imaging newly presenting patients to a UK headache service. CT and MRI results were classified as normal or showing an insignificant or significant abnormality. Over 5 years, 3,655 new patients (69% female; mean age 42.0 years) with headache disorders were seen. Five hundred thirty (14.5%) underwent imaging with large differences in the proportion referred by each consultant. There were more insignificant abnormalities on MRI (46%) than CT (28%). There were 11 significantly abnormal results (2.1% of those imaged). Significant abnormalities were found in patients diagnosed with migraine in 1.2% and in 0.9% of those with tension-type headache. Significant abnormalities in those suspected to have an intracranial abnormality occurred in 5.5%. This supports the practice of selecting patients with suspicious findings for imaging, rather than imaging all patients. |
X Demographics
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom | 6 | 86% |
Unknown | 1 | 14% |
Demographic breakdown
Type | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Members of the public | 5 | 71% |
Practitioners (doctors, other healthcare professionals) | 2 | 29% |
Mendeley readers
Geographical breakdown
Country | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Unknown | 43 | 100% |
Demographic breakdown
Readers by professional status | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Student > Ph. D. Student | 8 | 19% |
Researcher | 8 | 19% |
Student > Bachelor | 5 | 12% |
Student > Master | 4 | 9% |
Student > Postgraduate | 3 | 7% |
Other | 2 | 5% |
Unknown | 13 | 30% |
Readers by discipline | Count | As % |
---|---|---|
Medicine and Dentistry | 16 | 37% |
Neuroscience | 5 | 12% |
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology | 2 | 5% |
Nursing and Health Professions | 2 | 5% |
Arts and Humanities | 1 | 2% |
Other | 0 | 0% |
Unknown | 17 | 40% |