Regional cerebral blood flow changes in patients with posttraumatic headache

The aim of the study was to estimate rCBF in patients suffering from chronic PH after MHT and to compare the results with EEG and MRI examinations. The study was conducted in a group of 18 males aged 19-25 years (mean age 22.1 y) with posttraumatic headache after minor bead trauma (MHT). In early period after MHT all patients complained of headaches. In 16 cases there were episodes of tension headache, in 2 other patients migraine events occurred. Six subjects have complained of them for a year after the trauma (5 - tension headache and one - migraine). The EEG during the first days after the MHT did not show any deviations in all the subjects. One year after the trauma abnormal EEG records were detected in 4 patients. MRI carried out immediately after the MHT and repeated one year later revealed no lesions. The SPECT examination carried out early after the trauma, showed in 16 patients numerous foci of the decreased perfusion mostly in the frontal and temporal areas and, less frequently, in the parietal areas of the brain; the foci were localised predominantly in the left hemisphere (Table 1). Eleven of the 16 patients exhibited similar changes also one year after the trauma. In 5 subjects, the SPECT imaging carried out one year after the injury did not reveal any abnormalities compared to the initial examination. Patients with abnormal EEG had no chronic PH. There was no correlation between the nature and localization of rCBF deterioration shown in SPECT and the type or duration time of the headache in examined patients. Our survey did not revealed any relationship between the results of EEG, MRI and SPECT examination and the development or sort of posttraumatic headache.