Headache
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Multicenter Study Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Prevalence and diagnosis of migraine in patients consulting their physician with a complaint of headache: data from the Landmark Study.
Headache experts have suggested that to improve the recognition of migraine, patients with a stable pattern of episodic, disabling headache and a normal physical exam should be considered to have migraine in the absence of contradictory evidence. The premise upon which this approach is based-that is, that episodic, recurrent primary headache in the clinic is usually migraine-has not been evaluated in prospective clinical studies. ⋯ These findings support the diagnostic approach of considering episodic, disabling primary headaches with an otherwise normal physical exam to be migraine in the absence of contradictory evidence. If in doubt of diagnosis or when assigning a nonmigraine diagnosis, strong consideration should be given to the use of a diary to confirm primary headache diagnosis.