ENCOUNTER: FREQUENT SEVERE HEADACH
,Brainpower
giant cell arteritis; GCA
A 65-year-old female presents with severe, intermittent right temporal headache,
fever, blurred vision in her right eye, and pain in her jaw when chewing.
sinusitis
A 30-year-old female presents with frontal headache, fever, and nasal discharge.
There is pain on palpation of the frontal and maxillary sinuses. She has a history of
allergies.
tension headache
A 50-year-old female presents with recurrent episodes of bilateral squeezing
headaches that occur 3-4 times a week, typically toward the end of her work day.
She is experiencing significant stress in her life.
subarachnoid hemorrhage; SAH
A 35-year-old male presents with sudden severe "thunderclap" headache with
vomiting, confusion, left hemiplegia, and nuchal rigidity.
meningitis
, A 25-year-old male presents with high fever, severe headache, confusion,
photophobia, and nuchal rigidity. Kernig and Brudzinski signs are positive.
pseudotumor cerebri
An 18-year-old obese female presents with a pulsatile headache, vomiting, and
blurred vision for the past 2-3 weeks. She is taking OCPs.
migraine
A 21-year-old female presents with several episodes of throbbing left temporal
pain that lasts for 2-3 hours. Before onset, she sees flashes of light in her right
visual field and feels weakness and numbness on the right side of her body for a
few minutes. Headaches are often associated with nausea and vomiting. She has
a family history of migraine.
cluster headache
A 26-year-old male presents with severe right temporal headaches associated
with ipsilateral rhinorrhea, eye tearing, and redness. Episodes have occurred at
the same time every night for the past week and last for 45 minutes.
trigeminal neuralgia
A 57-year-old male c/o daily pain in the right cheek for the past month. The pain
is electric and stabbing in characteristic and occurs while he is shaving. Each
episode lasts 2-4 minutes.