Misdiagnosis of Patients with Cervicogenic Headache: A Case Series Study

Article Info Misdiagnosis of Patients with Cervicogenic Headache: A Case Series Study Mohammad Amir Bonakdar Tehrani 1, Mohammad Akbari2*, Mehdi Dadgoo3 1. MSc. Student, Department of Physiotherapy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 2. Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran 3. Assistant Professor, Department of Physiotherapy, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran Background and Objectives: Cervicogenic headache is considered to be one of the most controversial headaches because of its diagnostic challenges. It has several pathogeneses resulting in different signs and symptoms that make therapists prone to misdiagnosis. The aim of this study was to estimate the prevalence of diagnostic errors in cervicogenic headache patients. Methods: In this study that was conducted in the physiotherapy ward of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labour, and Social Welfare clinic in summer 2018, 60 patients with chronic headache were examined using the International Headache Society Diagnostic criteria and five physical tests. The aim of this study was to determine the number of the patients with cervicogenic headache who were not diagnosed or were misdiagnosed before this study. Results: Fifty-three of the volunteers had cervicogenic headache. Only four of them were diagnosed correctly before this study, indicating that 92% of the cervicogenic headache patients were not diagnosed properly in this study. Conclusion: There is a significantly high rate of misdiagnosis in patients with cervicogenic headache. Because of the physical mechanisms that induce this type of headache, applying valid and reliable physical tests together with diagnostic criteria may lead to accurate diagnosis of cervicogenic headache.