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Published on: October 2, 2020

Clinical description of hemodialysis headache in end-stage renal disease patients

Alan Chester Feitosa de Jesus1, Hélio Araújo Oliveira, Marcelo Oliveira Ribeiro Paixão

  • 1Department of Medicine, Sergipe Headache Unit, University Hospital, Federal University of Sergipe, Aracaju, SE, Brazil. alanchester@uol.com.br

Arquivos De Neuro-Psiquiatria
|January 14, 2010
PubMed

Insights

Headaches are common during hemodialysis (HD), affecting over 76% of patients. Diagnosing isolated HD headaches (HDH) presents challenges due to unknown causes and varied symptoms.

Area of Science:

  • Nephrology
  • Neurology
  • Clinical Medicine

Background:

  • Hemodialysis (HD) is frequently associated with patient-reported headaches.
  • Understanding these headaches is crucial for improving patient care during dialysis.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To determine the frequency and clinical characteristics of headaches in patients undergoing hemodialysis.
  • To evaluate diagnostic criteria for hemodialysis-related headaches (HDH).

Main Methods:

  • Prospective study of patients at a hemodialysis center in Brazil.
  • Diagnosis of isolated HD headaches (HDH) in patients with no prior headache history.

Main Results:

  • Headache prevalence was 76.1% among studied patients.
  • Isolated HDH was diagnosed in 6.7% of patients, often presenting as diffuse or temporal, bilateral, throbbing, moderate headaches.
  • Pre-existing headache types included migraine and tension-type headaches.

Conclusions:

  • The pathophysiology of hemodialysis-related headaches remains unknown.
  • Accurate diagnosis of HDH and other dialysis-related headaches is challenging.
Abstract

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