Funct Neurol 2003 Oct-Dec;18(4):195-203
Department of Neurology, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim, University of TrondheimHospitals, Trondheim, (NTNU).
The current criteria for cervicogenic headache (CEH) contain an anamnesticand a physical examination part. The latter consists of: 1) range of motionin the cervical spine (1+); 2) mechanical precipitation of head pain (uppermostscore: 1.5+). These two factors are included in “Features indicative of cervicalabnormality”, outlined in the present context, with a view to possibly facilitatingCEH diagnosis. These “features” have a wider scope, containing not only thetwo original factors (1 and 2), but also three additional factors–theirrelative contribution to the totality also given in parentheses: 3) facetjoint tenderness (0.5+); 4) neck muscle tenderness (0.5+); and 5) skin-rolltest (1.0+). The sum of the solitary features is, accordingly, 4.5+. An extra0.5+ can be added if there is extreme positivity of one of the factors, i.e.,a maximum of 5.0+. This coarse system concerning cervical function has alsobeen tested out in 1834 parishioners in the Vaga study of headache epidemiology(irrespective of headache diagnoses). The mean number of features increasedwith increasing intensity of head pain (by a factor of almost 3). In headache-freeindividuals (n.=246), the mean was 0.42+, against a mean in the whole seriesof 0.79+. Reproducibility tests demonstrated relatively high consistency.