Recurrent headaches: what every allergist should know.

OBJECTIVE: To provide the allergist information regarding the recognition, diagnosis, classification, and management of headaches. DATA SOURCES: Literature and relevant articles pertaining to various types of headache are reviewed and the clinical experience of the authors is presented. CONCLUSIONS: After reading this article, the allergist should know the various causes of headache, recognize the warning signs of serious neurologic disease, and determine whether allergy or adverse food reactions are playing a role.

Symmetric brainstem necrosis in an adult following hypotension: an arterial end-zone infarct?

A 44-year-old woman with prolonged coma and hypotension following drug overdosage developed bilateral hemorrhagic infarcts in the dorsolateral brainstem. The regional distribution of these paired lesions corresponds to the area of confluence of penetrating arteries in the brainstem. It is suggested that under exceptional circumstances brainstem arterial end-zones may be vulnerable to anoxic-ischemic insult.