Headache in brain tumor: a cross-sectional study

Headache is one of the cardinal features of intracranial neoplasm. However, there is little published information on the prevalence and clinical profiles of headache in patients with brain tumor. This cross-sectional study recruited 171 cases of brain tumor. The average age was 39 years (range from 4 to 75 years). The female to male ratio was 1.2:1. The prevalence of headache was 71%. The duration of headache ranged from 3 days to 10 years with an average of 15.7 months. Most prominent headache profiles in this series were intermittent, nocturnal and early morning headache as well as headache upon arising. Most of the patients had mild to moderately severe headache. Headache is more common with tumors below the tentorium cerebelli. It is more prevalent in primary and intracerebral tumor than in metastatic and extracerebral tumor. Headache has lateralizing value, especially in patients with supratentorial lesions who have no obvious increased intracranial pressure.