C Tassorelli

G Nappi

G Sances

G Sandrini

M Viana

Journal of Headache and Pain

PubMed

Springer - Publisher Connector

MEETING ABSTRACT Open Access
EHMTI-0035. “Cervical pain” study in an Italian
tertiary referral headache center
M Viana*, G Sances, G Nappi, G Sandrini, C Tassorelli
From 4th European Headache and Migraine Trust International Congress: EHMTIC 2014
Copenhagen, Denmark. 18-21 September 2014
Introduction
The majority of migraine patients remain undiagnosed
or misdiagnosed in Italy (Cevoli et al. 2009). In our
experience, many patients affected by migraine self-
diagnose it as ‘cervical pain syndrome’ (CP) assuming
cervical spine pathology as the cause.
Aim
To phenotype and classify, in a tertiary referral headache
center, the headache types of patients with self-diag-
nosed CP, and to describe this sample of patients.
Methods
All patients aged 18 to 75yo, referred to Mondino Head-
ache Center for a first visit for headache, completed a
questionnaire about CP. A detailed history was taken and
a neurological exam was performed in each patient. Brain
and cervical imaging were performed when deemed
necessary. All patients finally received a diagnosis based
on ICHD-IIIb criteria.
Result
85 patients completed the questionnaire: 47 were suffer-
ing from self-diagnosed CP, 3 had suffered from self-
diagnosed CP, 35 never had self-diagnosed CP. In all of
50 CP descriptions, the pain involved the head. ICHD-
IIIb diagnoses included migraine without aura (n = 30),
migraine with aura (1), probable migraine without aura
(n = 4), chronic migraine (n = 7), medication overuse
headache/chronic migraine (n = 5), tension type head-
ache (n = 2), hemicrania continua (n = 1), no patient pre-
sented with a phenotype suggestive of cervicogenic
headache. 24 out of 50 patients with CP answered the
question ‘who did tell you that these attacks are CP?’
with: general practitioner/medical specialist. The majority
of these patients underwent exams without a clear indi-
cation and ineffective treatment.
Conclusion
To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that
systemically assessed the headache phenotype of patients
with self-diagnosed CP. The results suggest that the
phenomenon of self-diagnosing CP is very common in
Italy, even in patients referred to a tertiary headache
center. The majority of these patients suffer from typical
migraine attacks, without any evidence of pathological
conditions of the cervical spine.
No conflict of interest.
Published: 18 September 2014
doi:10.1186/1129-2377-15-S1-D69
Cite this article as: Viana et al.: EHMTI-0035. “Cervical pain” study in an
Italian tertiary referral headache center. The Journal of Headache and Pain
2014 15(Suppl 1):D69.
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Headache Science Center, C. Mondino National Neurological Institute, Pavia,
Italy
Viana et al. The Journal of Headache and Pain 2014, 15(Suppl 1):D69
http://www.thejournalofheadacheandpain.com/content/15/S1/D69
© 2014 Viana et al; licensee Springer. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution
License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.


EHMTI-0035. "Cervical pain" study in an Italian tertiary referral headache center

http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1129-2377-15-S1-D69

EHMTI-0035. "Cervical pain" study in an Italian tertiary referral headache center

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