Headache is among the most frequent neurological
symptoms in the Emergency department. Although
most of the patients suffer from primary headaches
(migraine), an acute headache might be the only
symptom of a serious disease, such as subarachnoid
haemorrhage. The physician’s task is to make the
diagnosis, carry out an appropriate selection of the
patients who require further diagnostic evaluation and
relieve the pain. An accurate history will identify most
of the patients with secondary headaches. Clinicians
should suspect secondary causes in sudden onset
headache, headache in patients aged over 50 years, and
also in those patients with abnormalities on
neurological examination
