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Secondary Headache Disorders Attributed to COVID-19 Complications

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Headache Disorders in Pandemic Conditions

Part of the book series: Headache ((HEAD))

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Abstract

Headache is one of the most common neurological presentations of COVID-19 disease. SARS-CoV-2 causes headache at a higher rate than other respiratory viral infection agents. Hypoxia, systemic inflammatory process, postviral immune-mediated complications, and vascular complications are blamed on pathophysiology.

COVID-19-related headache is characterized by a mild severity, usually bilateral frontal and temporal localized, sudden and gradual onset, longer than 72 hours, intermittent, evening-preferred, resistant to analgesics, aggravated by exercise and coughing, and relieved by sleep. Headache features observed in the early phase of the disease in mild-to-moderate COVID-19 patients were investigated more than in severe COVID-19 patients.

It was reported that headache-related COVID-19 secondary complications such as cough, systemic viral infection, hypoxia, psychiatric disorders, encephalopathy, viral meningitis/encephalitis, reversible vasoconstriction syndrome, subarachnoid hemorrhage, cerebral venous sinus thrombosis, metabolic disorders, mucormycosis, pituitary apoplexy, vasculitis, optic neuritis, and facial paralysis. However, the relationship of some of the secondary complications with COVID-19 is still unclear. Another overlooked point is that headache may develop as a side effect of drugs used to treat the disease.

Headache secondary to COVID-19 complications should be suspected in the presence of male gender, older age, acute onset, progressive and severe headache, a thunderclap headache, epileptic seizure, impaired consciousness, focal neurologic deficit, and comorbid disease. It should not be ignored that headache may be more than an isolated symptom in COVID-19-positive patients. Diagnostic algorithms should be carefully selected to ensure appropriate treatment protocols in these patients.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. SBU Van Education and Research Hospital, Van, Turkey

    Hamit Genç

  2. School of Medicine, Istanbul University-Cerrahpaşa, İstanbul, Turkey

    Derya Uludüz

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  1. Hamit Genç
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurology, Mersin University Faculty of Medicine, Mersin, Türkiye

    Aynur Özge

  2. Neurology, Brain 360-Brain Health Center, Istanbul, Türkiye

    Derya Uludüz

  3. Dept of Neurology & Algology, NÖROM, Neuropsychiatry Center, Gazi University, Ankara, Türkiye

    Hayrunnisa Bolay

  4. Department of Neurology, Gülhane Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye

    Ömer Karadaş

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Genç, H., Uludüz, D. (2023). Secondary Headache Disorders Attributed to COVID-19 Complications. In: Özge, A., Uludüz, D., Bolay, H., Karadaş, Ö. (eds) Headache Disorders in Pandemic Conditions . Headache. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26309-5_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-26309-5_6

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