Headache as a presenting symptom of glioma: A cross-sectional study:

ObjectiveThe objective of this study was to analyse the prevalence and the clinical features of headache as a presenting symptom of glioma.MethodsWe interviewed 527 consecutive adult patients with histologically confirmed glioma, admitted to the Regina Elena National Cancer Institute between 2010 and 2015. We defined four headache phenotypes: Tension-type-like headache (TTH), migraine-like headache, worsening of a pre-existing headache (WPH) and classic brain tumour headache (BTH). Logistic regression analysis was carried out to investigate potential risk factors for headache at presentation of glioma.Results12.5% (n = 66) of patients with glioma indicated headache as a presenting symptom of their disease. Of these, 31 patients (47%) had TTH, while BTH and WPH were reported by 28 (42%) and seven (11%) patients, respectively. We did not find any case of migraine-like headache. Infratentorial (p = 0.038) and right-sided tumours (p = 0.013) were more frequently associated with the presence of headache at ons...