Characteristics of the Patients with Headache at a Primary Care Neurology Clinic

BACKGROUND: We investigated the demographic features and characteristics of headache (HA) in patients visiting a primary care clinic (PCC). METHODS: We prospectively collected the demographic and clinical data of 261 consecutive HA patients in a PCC located in Taejon from Oct. 1996 to Jul. 1998. All patients were interviewed and examined by a single neurologist. The types of HA were classified as migraine, tension-type, mixed, and others. RESULTS: The mean age at the initial visit was 37.2 +/-13.4 years. Women were 3 times more common than men (193 patients vs. 68 patients). More than half of the female patients were housewives (47.5%). Migraine was the most common type of headache (114 patients, 43.7%), followed by mixed type (72 patients, 27.6%) and tension-type headaches (57 patients, 21.8%). 85.7% of patients with HA for more than 1 month had taken medication before their initial visit. Among the 168 patients who reported their attitude toward HA, 55 patients continuously worried about their HA even in the HA-free period. CONCLUSIONS: In a PCC, migraine was the prevailing type of HA. The majority of HA sufferers were housewives.

Recording of Cerebral Blood Flow Velocity Using Transcranial Doppler Ultrasound in Normal Subjects

We provide the examination technique and the normal values of the cerebral blood flow velocity assessed with the transcranial doppler ultrasound system (TC2-64B, EME) operating at 2MHz in 50 volunteer adult subjects who had no history of neurological illness. Their age ranged from 20 to 58 years and 30 were men. We examined the middle cerebral artery (MCA), the anterior cerebral artery (ACA), the posterior cerebral artery (PCA), the internal carotid (ICAl the opthalmic artery (OPA), and the basilar artery (BA). For each artery we analyzed peak systolic, peak diastolic. And mean flow velocity. Reference values of mean velocities (cm/sec) were 53.2-58.5 for MCA; 48.7-53.8 for ACA; 30.8-33.2 for PCA; . 38.6-42.5 for ICA;11.7-13.1 for OPA;and 34.2-39.9 for BA (95% confidence interval). The velocities correlated inversely with age (p<0.05) arld were significantly lower in the posterior circulation (PCA and BA) than in anterior circulation (MCA, ACA and ICA). There was no difference between both.sexes and between the right and the left side.

A Case of Spinal Myoclonus Associated with Acute Intermittent Porphyria

A case of acute intermittent porphyria associated with intermittent attacks of spinal myoclonus in the neck and both shoulders is reported. The patient, a 19-year-old male had also presented with attacks of intermittent left arm monoparesis and passed port-wine clored urine that was responsible for positive Watson-Schwartz reaction, about 5 weeks after taking medication including haloperidol, phenobarbital, trihexyphenidyl hydrochloride and clonazepam for the treatment of myoclonus and concomitantly complained abdominal pain and mental symptoms with the recurrence of left arm monoparesis. Each attacks of spinal myoclonus and monoparesis recovered completely.