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Between January 2007 and March 2008, we prospectively studied all patients operated on for intracranial tumours in our Department of Neurosurgery. Preoperatively, all patients were interviewed by a neurologist to collect headache characteristics. Measurements of tumour and oedema volume were made using dedicated software for magnetic resonance imaging studies. Tumour histopathology was established by histological examination postoperatively. If headache improved postoperatively, a diagnosis of ‘headache attributed to intracranial neoplasm’ was made, according to the 2004 International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-II). A multivariate logistic regression model was used to evaluate the association of headache with potential risk factors. We studied 206 subjects. The prevalence of tumour headache was 47.6%. Intracranial tumour headache was non-specific and in most cases could not be classified by current ICHD-II diagnostic criteria for primary headache syndromes. Its prevalence varied depending on volume, location and type of tumour, as well as on the patient's previous headache history. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We describe a patient with ophthalmoplegic migraine and left sixth nerve palsy, in whom disease's onset occurred at middle age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Efficiency of care chain response and hospital reactivity were and are challenged for stroke acute care management during the pandemic period of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in North-Eastern Italy (Veneto, Friuli-Venezia-Giulia, Trentino-Alto-Adige), counting 7,193,880 inhabitants (ISTAT), with consequences in acute treatment for patients with ischemic stroke., Methods: We conducted a retrospective data collection of patients admitted to stroke units eventually treated with thrombolysis and thrombectomy, ranging from January to May 2020 from the beginning to the end of the main first pandemic period of COVID-19 in Italy. The primary endpoint was the number of patients arriving to these stroke units, and secondary endpoints were the number of thrombolysis and/or thrombectomy. Chi-square analysis was used on all patients; furthermore, patients were divided into two cohorts (pre-lockdown and lockdown periods) and the Kruskal-Wallis test was used to test differences on admission and reperfusive therapies., Results: In total, 2536 patients were included in 22 centers. There was a significant decrease of admissions in April compared to January. Furthermore, we observed a significant decrease of thrombectomy during the lockdown period, while thrombolysis rate was unaffected in the same interval across all centers., Conclusions: Our study confirmed a decrease in admission rate of stroke patients in a large area of northern Italy during the lockdown period, especially during the first dramatic phase. Overall, there was no decrease in thrombolysis rate, confirming an effect of emergency care system for stroke patients. Instead, the significant decrease in thrombectomy rate during lockdown addresses some considerations of local and regional stroke networks during COVID-19 pandemic evolution., (© 2021. The Author(s).)

Headache is one of the leading symptoms often associated with brain tumours. Secondary headaches attributed to intracranial neoplasias have been included in subchapter 7.4 of the third edition of the International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD-3). According to ICHD-3, the headache may be attributed to a brain tumour if it has developed in close temporal relation with the development of the neoplasia, has significantly worsened in parallel with the worsening of the tumour, and/or has significantly improved following the successful treatment of the neoplasia. Brain tumour headache was traditionally thought to display some specific clinical characteristics, including worsening in the morning and/or when lying down, being aggravated by Valsalva-like manoeuvres and accompanied by nausea and/or vomiting; however, the studies performed after the advent of modern neurodiagnostic techniques have pointed out that the "classic" brain tumour headache is uncommon, particularly at the time of clinical presentation. Therefore, it becomes critical to seek some specific factors associated with the presence of an intracranial mass (the so-called "red flags") that can guide the physician to establish an accurate diagnosis.

Background: Few studies in adolescents deal with the level of agreement between questionnaire and interview information in relation to headache symptoms., Objective: To evaluate the validity of a self-administered questionnaire on headache for use in epidemiological studies of Italian high school students., Methods: The questionnaire incorporated all items required for diagnosing migraine according to the criteria from the 2004 International Classification of Headache Disorders. The migraine diagnoses obtained from questionnaires were validated against the gold standard diagnoses by a headache specialist., Results: Out of 104 students answering the questionnaires, 93 (89.4%) participated in extensive semi-structured interviews by a neurologist. The chance-corrected agreement rate (kappa) was 0.66, which is considered good. The questionnaire-based migraine diagnosis had a sensitivity of 67.3%, specificity of 100%, positive predictive value of 100%, and negative predictive value of 73.3%., Conclusions: The results indicate that our self-administered questionnaire may be an acceptable instrument in determining the prevalence of migraine sufferers in the northeast Italy adolescent population, useful in identifying subjects with "definite" migraine.

Aims: Since cardiovascular diseases can exhibit a possible connection with chronic periodontal diseases, the aim of the present study was to examine the presence of periodontal impairment in patients with coronary heart diseases (CHD)., Methods: For this purpose periodontal charts were raised for 101 patients (78 male, 23 female, mean age 61.8 +/- 10.5 years) with cardiovascular diseases; comparison was drawn between theses charts and those for a control group of 101 healthy patients (59 male, 42 female, mean age 56.6 +/- 9.9 years). Over and above the dental diagnosis (probing depth [mm], vitality, tooth mobility, plaque index (PI), inclination towards sulcus bleeding) each related to 6 characteristic teeth, various habitual aspects (diet, smoke and drink patterns, stress, body weight) were recorded., Results: Within the CHD-group the periodontal chart revealed for all teeth examined a mean probing depth of 3.4 +/- 1.1mm, with the corresponding reading for the control group being 2.8 +/- 0.9 mm. The mean bleeding index (Van-der-Weiden) read 1.1 +/- 0.7 for the CHD-group and 0.7 +/- 0.6 for the control group. The mean plaque index reading was 1.4 +/- 0.9 for the group suffering from heart diseases and 0.7 +/- 0.8 for the control group. Comparison of these periodontal charts showed statistically significant differences (p<= 0.01), whereas mean degrees of tooth mobility did not differ in a statistically significant way. In summary, the results described hint at a correlation between an existent coronary heart disease and the presence of a periodontitis., Conclusion: However, also for consideration below are further influential factors, such as diet, individual life conduct, smoking habits, Body-Mass-Index or microbiological aspects.