Washington, Dec 28 (IANS) Headache could be the only
symptom of brain tumour in many cases, say researchers, suggesting that
CT scans and other neuro-imaging tests for people with headache could
prove to be helpful tools in spotting the deadly disease.
The
suggestions come in view of recent proposed guidelines in the US seeking
to reduce the use of neuro-imaging tests for patients with headaches,
as part of initiatives to limit the use of unnecessary and costly
medical tests.
"Although the intentions are laudable, these
guidelines are inconsistent with the neurosurgeon's experience with
patients with brain tumour," said Ammar H. Hawasli from Washington
University' School of Medicine in the US.
"Specifically, patients
with brain tumours may present with isolated headaches in the absence
of other neurological symptoms and signs," added Hawasli.
To illustrate the point, the researchers analysed 95 patients with a confirmed diagnosis of brain tumour.
They
found that in 11 patients, headache was the only symptom of brain
tumour. Four of these patients had "new-onset" headaches that would have
qualified them for neuro-imaging under the recently proposed
guidelines.
The remaining seven patients had migraine or other
types of headache for which imaging may not have been performed under
the proposed "choosing wisely" guidelines of ABIM (American Board of
Internal Medicine) Foundation, the researchers said.
Therefore, neuro-imaging would have been delayed or never performed in three to seven percent of patients with brain tumours.
"We
support careful and sensible use of neuro-imaging in which physicians
exercise excellent clinical judgment to reduce waste in the medical
system," Hawasli said.
The study appeared in the journal Neurosurgery.