What causes vascular headaches? Two major diseases that cannot be ignored

The incidence of vascular headache is extremely high. Once you suffer from cerebrovascular disease or cerebral ischemia, it will trigger the occurrence of this disease. The former manifests as diffuse severe pain in the whole head, often accompanied by fever and convulsions, while the latter is mainly characterized by dull pain and numbness in the orbital and forehead areas.

1. Causes of cerebrovascular disease

Classification:

Headaches caused by cerebrovascular disease are divided into two categories:

⑴ Hemorrhagic cerebrovascular disease (cerebral hemorrhage, subarachnoid hemorrhage). ⑵Ischemic cerebrovascular disease (transient ischemic attack, cerebral infarction).

Features:

The characteristic of headache caused by cerebral hemorrhage is that it can cause severe headache in the early stage of bleeding. At this time, the location and nature of the headache sometimes depend on the location and amount of bleeding, and it manifests as throbbing pain in the ipsilateral occipital and temporal regions accompanied by nausea and vomiting. If blood enters the subarachnoid space or cerebral ventricles, the headache will worsen, manifesting as diffuse severe pain throughout the head, often accompanied by fever and convulsions. Headache is the most common symptom in patients with cerebellar hemorrhage. Because internal capsule hemorrhage and pontine hemorrhage progress rapidly, headache is rarely the first symptom in clinical practice.

2. Causes of cerebral ischemia

Introduction:

The incidence of headache in transient ischemic attack (TIA) is 4% to 36%. Some patients may experience non-localized aura headache before TIA attack, which is mainly characterized by dull pain and numbness in the orbital and frontal areas. The headache caused by TIA of the vertebrobasilar artery system is often more severe than that caused by TIA of the internal carotid artery system. The former is mainly characterized by headache in the back, which may be unilateral or bilateral; the latter is mainly characterized by dull pain in the forehead or the entire head. The time of occurrence of headache is related to blood pressure fluctuations and the degree of vasospasm. If the degree of headache is mild, patients often do not cite headache as the main complaint when seeking medical treatment.

Diagnostic points:

⑴ Patients with cerebral arteriosclerosis aged 50 to 70 years old, ⑵ Sudden onset, ⑶ With localized signs of the nervous system, short duration, and complete recovery within 24 hours, ⑷ The same symptoms may recur, ⑸ No abnormalities are found in cerebrospinal fluid, electroencephalogram, CT, MRI and other examinations.