Clinical features and ICHD headache diagnoses for patients with prominent craniofacial pain referred by a rhinologist to headache specialists
Recommended Citation
Ali A, Jyotika S, Abdulmalik S, Craig J. Clinical features and ICHD headache diagnoses for patients with prominent craniofacial pain referred by a rhinologist to headache specialists. Cephalalgia 2025; 45:43-44.
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Publication Date
10-16-2025
Publication Title
Cephalalgia
Keywords
Neurosciences & Neurology
Abstract
Objective: To report clinical features and ICHD headache diagnoses in patients referred by a rhinologist to headache specialists for prominent craniofacial pain. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of patients presenting for craniofacial pain to a rhinologist, who were subsequently referred to a headache specialist for presumed non-sinogenic craniofacial pain. A total of 98 patient charts were reviewed and information including demographics, gender, nasal endoscopy findings, SNOT-22 (Sino-Nasal Outcome Test-22 questionnaire) score, ICHD (International Classification of Headache Disorders) headache diagnosis, and headache characteristics were extracted. Results: Nasal endoscopy performed in the rhinologist clinic was normal in 92.7% of patients, edema was noted in 5.2% of patients, and mucopurulence in 2% of patients. The majority of the patients described their pain as frontal or frontal-maxillary, dull or throbbing, and moderate to severe. Migraine was the most common final diagnosis in 49.1% of the patients and the second most common diagnosis was tension-type headache in 17.3% of the patients. The remaining patients were diagnosed with 11 additional ICHD diagnoses. Conclusion: Patients in this study who presented to a rhinologist primarily for craniofacial pain were ultimately diagnosed by headache specialists with a variety of primary headache disorders, with migraine and tension-type headaches being most common. No patients were diagnosed with headache attributed to rhinosinusitis, reinforcing prior literature showing sinus disease is an uncommon cause of prominent craniofacial pain. To our knowledge, this is the first study evaluating a collaboration between otolaryngology-trained sinus specialists and neurology-trained headache specialists. Future studies exploring the potential implications of such collaboration are needed.
Volume
45
First Page
43
Last Page
44
