Neuroradiological imaging in childhood headache

Abstract

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Keywords

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Çocukluk Çağı Baş Ağrısında Nöroradyolojik Görüntüleme

Abstract

Headache is a common symptom in pediatric practice. Evaluation and diagnosis of headache are difficult by physicians. However, there are some reports that headache can be sign of intracranial pathological degeneration in adult by radiological techniques although there is scarce report in childhood headache. We aimed to determine the etiology of headache in childhood period without neurological symptoms etiology in the east Anatolia region of Turkey by computerize tomography (CT) scan and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). A total of 134 children with headache in childhood period (ranged in age from 3 to 15 years, the mean age; 12.9±0.6 years) were investigated by CT scan and MRI. CT and MRI scan were performed in 124 and 10 patients within one year period, respectively. MRI was performed with 0,3 T equipment although CT was performed with multidetector equipment. We found radiological abnormalities in ten patients (%7.46). Six and four abnormalities of the ten patients on CT and MRI were detected, respectively. We detected 5 patients with sinusitis, one patient with arachnoid cyst, one patient with demyelinated foci, one patient with lacunar infarct, one patient with communicant hydrocephalus and one patient with germ cell tumor. The most frequent radiological abnormality in children was sinusitis. The radiological abnormalities were detected higher in MRI investigation than in CT scan. In conclusion, we observed that MRI might be used in findings of the patients with complicated headache in childhood period without neurological symptoms.

Keywords

• Çocukluk çağı baş ağrısı, Bilgisayarli tomografi, Manyetik rezonans görüntüleme, Sinüzit, Kitle

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