Post-angiography headaches

Abstract

Headache is a common symptom after cerebral angiography, although it has seldom been studied. We aimed to evaluate the frequency of headache at 24 h and 6 months after angiography and to describe its characteristics. We used a cross-sectional survey of consecutive patients submitted to angiography and determined headache presence and its characterization. Headache occurrence was analyzed against headache history, clinical data, technical and demographical variables. Of 107 procedures studied, 51.3% patients experienced headaches within 24 h. Patients more likely to experience headaches were females or had subarachnoid hemorrhage. Six months post-procedure 48.8% of patients had frequent headaches. These patients had a positive headache history before the procedure, migraine in particular. Half of patients undergoing routine angiography experience benign post-procedure headaches within 24 h (especially women), yet it does not seem to predispose to chronic long-term headaches.

Fig. 1

Previous headache diagnosis and headaches at each revaluation (24 h and 6 months); 1st Ev (24 h): evaluation 24 h after the procedure; 2nd Ev (6 m): evaluation 6 months after the procedure; X axis represents previous headache history; Numbers illustrated are patients counts within each group

Fig. 2

Relation of headache diagnosis 6 months after the procedure to previous headache history; X axis: headaches the 6 months revaluation; H free: headache-free without headaches; M: missing data; Z axis: recurrent headaches before the procedure; P H free: previously headache free; P secondary: previous secondary headache; P tension-type: previous tension-type headache; P migraine: previous migraine, M: missing; Y axis: number of patients in groups, as depicted in the gray-shaded legend